Medetnična delitev in interakcije na gostivarskih ulicah

Abstract

This paper focuses on the streets in Gostivar, Macedonia, and how its young Albanian and Macedonian inhabitants perceive them. I am interested in how the ethnic division in the town influences perceptions and behavior. Macedonian girls are exposed to verbal sexual advances and harassment by Albanians, whereas boys are exposed to occasional fights. On the other hand, among Albanian youth the fear of the Other is not as present as among the Macedonians. In seeking the reasons for this situation, I deal with the concepts of chaos and cosmos, social control, gossip, cultural differences, kinship, and patriarchy. The streets are one of the spaces where identification takes place, and gender and ethnic identities are related to interactions in the streets. By defining boundaries in space, people create and maintain the boundaries between “us” and “them.” Identities are built in the process of interaction with others. The process of identification is connected to defining the similarities and differences in relation to “us.” People place themselves in the center, in the sphere of the cosmos, which they relate to home, the known, order, safety, and cleanliness. They place the Other in the sphere of chaos because the Other represents the distant, the foreign, the unknown, disorder, danger, and uncleanness. Public opinion is important in maintaining identities and boundaries. Girls in particular must safeguard their honor, which is constantly under surveillance. Identification is maintained by avoiding the space of the Other. Individuals avoid it in order to maintain their good name in the eyes of their group. Through the constant maintenance of the identities and boundaries between “us” and “them,” or between cosmos and chaos, one can trace the fear of losing one’s own identity. Each side is afraid that they might become like “them.”