The Myth of Greater Albania
The Myth of Greater Albania

Author: Paulin Kola

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2003-07-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9780814747735

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When Kosovar Albanians came to Albania after the fall of Communism, they were surprised to find an impoverished motherland whose people were consumed with questions of basic survival. Albania's citizens, for their part, were dumbstruck by the relatively opulent lifestyles of the Kosovars. Yet despite their profound differences, the myth of a "Greater Albania" persists. In this timely book, Paulin Kola challenges this myth, arguing that there is not widespread support for a "Greater Albania" among the Albanian-speaking peoples. He shows that Albanians do not wish to join a single, politically recognized entity and demonstrates how the Albanians are marked by ideological, religious, and other divisions. While a "Greater Kosovo" remains a remote possibility, there is little chance of the Albanians of either Albania or the diaspora supporting moves to dissolve the present international borders in pursuit of an "Albanian homeland." Albanians appear content to retain their discrete political entities, while traveling and trading freely. Accessible and urgent, this book effectively puts to rest the cherished myths of Albanian nationalism.

The Albanian National Question and the Myth of Greater Albania
The Albanian National Question and the Myth of Greater Albania

Author: United States Army War College

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-03-31

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781497498242

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In order to know what the Albanian National Question (ANQ) is, one should learn it not from what its neighbors, namely Serbia and Greece, have to say, but from a more direct and reliable source, the voice of the Albanians themselves. No nation is in a position in which it can express in a realistic way the needs, the rights and aspirations of a different nation in the same way as an individual cannot be an exact representative for someone but himself. For many years the Western countries used to rely on either Serbian or Greek lenses for the ANQ. In the late 1990s the U.S.-led intervention against Serbia over Kosova on humanitarian grounds and the Albanian insurgency in Macedonia has contributed to an altered power balance in the region. The neighbors frightened by the power shift in the Southern Balkans use their propaganda machinery to express the danger posed by the alleged Greater Albania scheme in order to demonize and morally downgrade the ANQ. However, one can easily see that Albanians since the creation of their state have not, are not, and will not pursue an irredentist agenda toward their neighbors.

Albanian Identities
Albanian Identities

Author: Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780253341891

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The contributors to this study critically de-construct Albanian myths and offer insights into Albanian history and politics. They conclude with contemporary Albanian critiques of the origins and functions of Albanian politics and ideologies.

The Search for Greater Albania
The Search for Greater Albania

Author: Paulin Kola

Publisher: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13:

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In this topical text Paulin Kola challenges the accepted notion that there is widespread support for a Greater Albania among the Albanian-speaking peoples of the Balkans, and argues that Albanians do not wish to join a single, politically-recognized entity. He explains how the Albanians are marked by ideological, religious and other divisions, many of which were exacerbated by their differing reactions to nationalism, as experienced in Tito's Yugoslavia and Hoxha's Albania.

A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture
A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture

Author: Robert Elsie

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780814722145

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In some senses, Albania is a living museum of the past. Originally a small herding community in the most inaccessible reaches of the Balkans, the presence of Albanians in southeastern Europe has been documented for over a thousand years. Albanian traditional folk culture, which evolved over centuries of relative isolation, is surprisingly rich. Yet despite recent events this culture remains little known to the Western world. Due to the lasting effects of a half century of Stalinist dictatorship, very few individuals even in Albania know much about their own popular traditions. The Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture makes available for the first time a wealth of knowledge about Albanian popular belief and folk customs. Alphabetical entries shed light on blood feuding, figures of Albanian mythology, religious beliefs, communities, and sects, calendar feasts and rituals, and popular superstitions, as well as birth, marriage, and funeral customs, and sexual mores. This unique volume will stand as the standard reference work on the subject for years to come.

Myths and Mythical Spaces
Myths and Mythical Spaces

Author: Claudia Lichnofsky

Publisher: V&R unipress GmbH

Published: 2017-12-04

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 3737008116

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This volume addresses textbooks written in the Albanian language and in use in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. Political myths and mythical spaces play a key role in shaping processes of identity-building, concepts of ‘self’ and ‘other’, and ideas pertaining to the location of the self and nation within a post-conflict context. The Albanian case is particularly interesting because the majority of Albanians live outside the borders of Albania, despite the existence of the nation-state, which gives rise to fascinating complexities regarding the shaping of national identities and myths surrounding concepts of ‘self’ and ‘other’. What textbooks teach is always of political interest, as they represent society’s intentions for its next generation. This renders identity-building processes via textbooks in this context a particularly fascinating topic for research, here examined through the lens of myths and mythical spaces.

Kosovo
Kosovo

Author: Julie Mertus

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1999-08-09

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 0520218655

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Explores the foundations of conflict in Kosovo, charging that the international community's failure to support the Albanians in their initial passive resistance to Serbian repression led to violence.

Rebels, Believers, Survivors
Rebels, Believers, Survivors

Author: Noel Malcolm

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 511

ISBN-13: 0198857292

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Albania and Kosovo have long, fascinating histories of connection with the wider European world. These essays explore this history from the 15th century to the 20th, through stories of Italian pilgrims, British diplomats, Albanian village girls converting to Islam, Muslims practising secret Christianity, and Ottoman men enslaving fellow citizens.