BETWEEN THE GLORY OF A VIRTUAL WORLD AND THE MISERY OF AREAL WORLD Fatos Lubonja Rilindja (Albanian ‘renaissance’) Following Albania’ independénce in 1912, Mithat Frashéri, one of the fathers of Albanian nationalism writing about the country at ‘were ficed with the task of turning their country ‘froma scattered array of clans into a nation." Albania in 1912 was inhabited by various tribes, north and south of the ts of their village, region or vent, the central government in in the pre but they had or intellectual ties with one another. te this ‘scattered array. the Albanians into a nation with a c isto speak about in order to ta identity, If we compare Albanian Albanian nationalism starts at the time of the Russian —Tarkish war (1878) which brought independence to the Serbs. As the Turkish92 Fatos Lubonjia regions inhabited by the Albanians ffom the threat of being partitioned by the Serbs and Greeks. At the same time, there was a perceived ins from the Turkish identity ‘context has very much influenced the development of the n momentin Albanian coll ry and Albanian culture. ‘The main myths created by those who were the so-called ‘men of the Albanian indja), who nourished Albanian national romanticism, are typical myths of European romanticism ofthe 19th century creating the pride in Albanians of being a unique people. Among the main myths are those exalting the ofthe Albanian people and Albanian as one of the oldest languages. Since it was necessary to distinguish the Albanians fiom the Greeks and the Slavs—even to —the origin of the Albanian people was found people, which, according to mythology, were the ihabitant ofthe Balkens before the Greeks (ater the Pesgirs ‘were replaced by the Illyrians). Consequi ths of the great mythologised by the Catholic church asa ‘Champion of Christianity? now became mythologised for the second time as a national hero of the Albanians—as the man who in 1443 liberated Albania from the ‘Turkish occupation and who defended his country against the Turks for twenty-five years. He is a very ambivalent figure, having fought against the Turks but at the same time having a Turkish name and tite, The fact that he changed religions (born a Christian, he became a Muslim and then a Christian again) fited a very important historical construct created by one of the famous men of the Albanian renaissance, ‘Vaso Pasha, With the intention of unifying the Albanian people who were divided into three religions, Vaso Pasha, a Catholic who had served the Turkish Empire, wrote in one of his most famous “The religion of the Albanians is Albanianism.” In the collective memory of the Albanians, the figure of Skanderbeg (first treated in 2 Vaso Pas, see Visa, Pasko (Wass ifn, The Tach on Alanis aed he Alani Hori end Cota 17 B.Sc} Fairman (ed) B, Desai, London: LBTH Learning Design 1999 (187% | World and a Real World % a national romantic prt by the Arbéresh, the Albanians of yi ‘aveen a (Cattle and Farming, 188 *Gjuha shgipe’ (The Alb: of Skanderbeg, 1898).) ‘Kruja 0 coming asa golden dove/ to save the motherland'—these lines from his epic poem The History of Skanderbeg was to be memorised by iependence, ive. forces Skanderbeg was once again ised in Albania. The choice of Skanderbeg as the national hero indicates another element of the nationalistic mythology. Due to their small territory and po were constrained to seek another big brother who wot ‘Turkey in defending them from the Serbian and Greek threat, The “Champion of Christianity’ was a most appropriate hero because he ‘was alo a hero of the Christian Western world ‘These are the basic myths that nourished Albanian nationalistic94 Patos Lubonja without the nationalistic spirit which campaigned he motherland, mnal Liberation War. Gradually ideology became intertwined: bax realist i a scene in which one can see a communist commissar mn cap or a communist secretary of the people by a e who is listening open-mouthed youn the only way to break free from itis to follow the teaching of the ‘Communist Party. He is speaking of the big brother, the Soviet Union, as the country where the communist dream has become a reality, and ‘who, asa defender and a powerful brother will help Albania to become the same paradise. Kadare ‘Pése mendohen inking about?)* wri etic form of this new mythology: snail Kade, se menden to mak, versa die poera, Tirana: Naim Pash 1964; avalable alo in English: bid, "What are ehese Mountains thinking abow An Elusive Bagls Soa: Anthology of Moder Albanion Poetry, e6, ave tanslted by Robert Ehie, London and Boston: Forest Books 1993, pp. 85-96, Between a Virtual World and a Real World 95 of the Albanian people tance and their heroism successful because of teue leader. They are thinking about the long wait for ‘the Communist Party name of a new world: on le to give away all of the past described mythology ss italready has an important place in the collective memory of the Albanians. The new apostles were bringing a new faith, but, order to stay in power, they needed to keep roots in the old fa ‘whose foundations Albania was created. Therefore, it was necessary to find a compromise. The compromise was found, like the compro mise between the Old Testament and the New Testame ‘moments that had foreseen and prepared the way for the saviour. The glorious past had at least four major moments iterary and artistic works created during ‘exulted were Skanderbeg and Enver Hoxha. As in every mythology, the heroes of these epochs also had their anti-heroes: the Roman invaders, the Turks, the Serbs and the Greeks, the Nazi-Fascists and their Albanian collaborators. yn and its clerics, and in particule ive the three religions ‘The religion of the they were seen as representatives ofan old conservative world, as Marx’s Some well-known clerics—like Gjon Buzuku96 Fatos Lubonja The need to combine communist and nationalist ideologies made necessary the elaboration and enlargement of the nationalist myths— sometimes even their modification—through a technique of combination wit myths, In analysing this technique it is important to keep in mind that the nati ‘was represented in two form: logy was bs jowledge, not on the unknown and the transcendent fact the ideology was neither a religion nor a theory, but a mutation of both. Actingasa belief, while 2 1 to be scholarly knowledge the national-communist ideology froze mat (among science into mythology. For instance, the ethnogenesis Of the Albanians was an open question among Al lars uring the 1950s, but when Enver Hoxha declared that their origin was Mlyri vying their Pelasgian roots) no one dared participate in further discussion ofthe question. ra literary and artistic activity as well a academic st jstorical and linguist war victory was ‘Skanderbeg. This high point in cory Was immortalised in the film ‘Skanderbeg’ produced in 1957.6 The hero now had an actor’ face (although in fact the face ‘was not that of an Albanian but a Georgian from the Soviet Union), he film, Skanderbeg's ties with the Christian world are ignored; there are no churches or crosses. The Rep ‘Venice is presented asa threat and the Turks the force of evi. With Albania’ break from ‘the Soviet Union in 1961, the symbiotic syncretism of the and the communist myths grew even stronger. Hoxha ju break not only asa defence of of Albanian independence from In this period the monument of St Sknderb 1957, n Albanian-Sovieecoproduction directed by Senge Jutkevic, Between a Virtual World and a Real World ” square of Tirana, put in another minor place and replaced by the (trian statue of Skanderbeg. Albania started to become more But the strongest influence was In onder to illustrate the sync not only because he is the be outside the country, but also because he is the one who developed that syncretism with the most fantasy and talent. The greater part of his work nourishes Some of the myths and c described in the Miad and the Odyssey or in the tragedies of Aeschylus, are demonstrated in these works to be current among the Albanian mountain people of today as proof that their origin lay there. In these books the author does not mention ¢ Greeks and Ilyrians, but simply Greeks and. Albanians. ough a series of works such as Ura me tri ange (The bridge98 Fatos Lubonja described. Albania is represented as fours the Slavs and Turks are presented as b the flourishing Alban be found ing civilisation, whereas who came to destroy ¢ of exogamy, or mar terpreted rather diffe technique of ki logy. The novel was writ compared with Troy: the that we should be vigilant of ‘wooden horse revisionism’. The image of Albania as a strong castle with had a strong influence later of the: country, Kadare has written several works describing the period of the Ottoman nearly all these works we find t which often alludes to other eastern asthe Soviet ‘Union and China (these works were writt break with the in?’ (The sender of the explicit expression ofthe myth of Turkish ivilised Albania begins to be covered with the veils Paris: Fayard 19 Originally entitled Sls fateist—Inamo now ("The Bearer of U-tdings— thete are glorious Albanian figures w, are always repre Like most Al leyegyleti (November o 1975) Sonting the coi struction ofa new world by the communists: Dasma (The Wedding, 1968), Endérr Industriale (Industrial dream, 1967) ete.'? ‘These two ‘wo motives: the defence of the independence of Al and the defence of Stalinism, ortant. The same thing ean b (Concert at the End of the Winter, 1988) ‘which deals with Albania’s break with China.'* “These themes and these ways of treating them formed the basis of all creativity during the fifty years of Communism. During these years the myths nourishing nationalism and Communism grew to- 1981 (Legrand iver, Pa iit, Tirana: Nairn Fras 1988 (in Engh, The Coe, London: Harsll 1994),100 Fatos Lubonjia comprehension of the mise cated during the commu important thing in life, y of their everyday che of Socialism! Things such as love or individual freedom were never mentioned. Here, however, it is very important to note that with time these affirmations became more and more hypocritical. The national-communist ideology increasingly became 2 ‘belief not be- Heved, a ‘general lie imposed’ as Alexander Solzhenitsyn pul ‘was growing oppression which forced people to behave believed in it, As time went by, the perversion caused to the human became an increasingly conscious of repression. Meanwhile, the jcology, had undergone so n ing and poverty, began to open up to other myths—those of the enemies of that virtual world and the heroes they had been forced to adore ‘The post-communist period and the myth of the west In 1990, when the communist regime started to open its doors, Albania ‘was visited for the frst time by Mother Teresa. She came as one of the first visitors who landed in an Albania isolated for decades. Itis ‘obvious that in her speech she could not avoid speaking of Jesus Christ and of religion. A young Albanian female journalist, born and educated in the communist period, never havi country more when you Phe biblical images of the exodus of Albanians fleeing their country in the beginning of the 1990s were the most eloquent indicator of the failure of national-Communism. They showed that: helped the Albanians to fecl closcr to each other nor them a love for their country and for Communism, but merely served to oppress and isolate them, The Albanians overthrew the communist heroes with rage from their pedestals. They did, however, leave the national heroes on the pedestals buile by nists, but without believing in chem and without being inspired by them. Generally, somehow fell back to where they had started thei formation ofthe nation: into a scattered array of clans trying to survive. If we can speak of one myth dominating the post-communist period, it isthe myth ofthe West. It appears as drive for the creation ofa new identity and a new inspiration and, at the same ‘vast crowd of people, reminiscent of the masses of people in Mecca, surrounded his car kis In the name of the he West, the separation from Com- mumnism was treated 2s 2 separation from an accidental event in the history of Albania. It was the betrayal of the conumunists that made Albania a part of a world in it did not belong: the eastern ‘world. The myth of the West even had continuity with the old na- tionalist myth of the prosperity and civilisation of ‘Turkish period. The Ci ye Turkish were absent in the version published during the communist peri Skanderbeg was presented not only as a liberator and defender of the independence of the country, but alFatos Lubonja Between a Virtual World and a Real World Yen of the National League! The president ofthe speech said: We Albani defended West Furopea ide in being Albanians, e themselves to be natural superiors while on the other defame their country and try to escape from it in the search of a and the harm of myths for towards a civil society—a society in which some ofthe most important cal spirit, and the consciousness