Albanian Tradition Research Articles

The Historical Evolution of the Albanian Constitution During the XX-XXI Centuries

This paper aims to highlight the historical importance of constitutionalism for a country and the efforts made to finalize it. Referring to the history of the Albanian Constitution, we can see a centuries-old attempt to bring an essential legal act that gives the highest values to the state, not only in the National Legal context but also in compatibility with International Legislation. As it is already known, the Constitution is the state's fundamental law. In the Albanian tradition, the constitution, the notions related to it, and the concepts that originate from it have had less longevity than the state itself. Due to historical circumstances, the Albanian state was created in the last phase of the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire from the Balkans and the creation of the Balkan states. As a result, it faced double difficulties in the written shaping and implementation of constitutional practices and norms. For the founders of the Albanian state, there was no previous reference document, no close contemporary tradition, and no legitimate institutions from which the constitutional document could originate.What will be important in this paper is that, based on the documentary analysis, there has been a continuous effort by the political bodies, since the Declaration of Independence and up to our days, for a contemporary development and modeling of all the Constitutions of this country, starting from Canons and ending in the current Constitution which the Albanian state obeys today. Also, in this paper, clarifying some misunderstandings or unintentional misinterpretations about the previous constitutional documents will be essential. Based on the bibliography, all the Albanian constitutions without which the Albanian legal state could not function, and functions will be studied with special attention.
 
 Received: 2 October 2023 / Accepted: 10 December 2023 / Published: 23 December 2023

The Conceptual Metaphor and the Need to Identify It in the Albanian Literary Corpus

In Albanian pre-university and university literature, a cacophony of viewpoints can be observed regarding the concept of literary figuration in general and the metaphor in particular (especially in the pre-university system, where we encounter some of the strangest definitions). In this paper, we have focused on the concept of metaphor in Albanian tradition studies first, approaching these concepts contrastively. Then we have dealt with the concept of conceptual metaphor, an approach from a psycholinguistic point of view (more precisely neurolinguistic recently), which has taken place even in the most representative manuals of stylistics and which, in our opinion, offers several advantages in the identification of conceptual metaphor in literary text (and not only). The concept of conceptual metaphor and the reflection of the most recent treatments of it will be the main aim of this unit. We intend to do this since there is a lack of treatments related to conceptual metaphors in Albanian literature. Such a fact has created a gap in the prescription of the mental and cohesive identification of primary and conceptual metaphors in everyday life, as well as in literature. We consider the fact that it is a theory that has its origin and the largest number of treatments connected with the metaphor of everyday life, that is, of ordinary discourse, since it is seen as an important part of the conceptual and structural formatting of man. The article will provide examples of the Albanian corpus, specifically of ordinary speech, idioms, and the literary corpus. 
 
 Received: 16 July 2023 / Accepted: 7 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023

Ways of Announcing Death in Albanian Tradition

Ways of Announcing Death in Albanian Tradition

Chronicle of Designing of Textbooks – ABC Books, Reading Comprehension and Grammar Books in Albanian Language in Kosovo 1886 – 2019

According to the pedagogue and scholar of the school textbooks, the textbook is a basic and mandatory school book, which serves as a basic tool and source of knowledge in the given field of study. Created in support of the education curriculum and didactically shaped, taking into account the psychophysical skills of the students, the subject matter of the course, the type of school, the degree and the profile of education. Students use it in all stages of the learning process and in everyday self-education. It is known that the existence of the scripture is mentioned by the old Babylonia when tile plates were used to write the textual content, as early as four thousand years ago. In addition to that, in ancient Egypt, the texts were written in papyrus, which was used even in old Greece and later in Rome. The parchment was used in the middle Ages, whereby it is believed that the texts were written two thousand years ago. The story of the proper text begins with the discovery of Jan Gutenberg's printing press in 1438. This is where the textbook as a massive book of education derives from. It was an epochal discovery. Meanwhile, while it is known that although Albanian is one of the oldest languages in Europe, it is however documented late. The first documents of the Albanian language are considered from the 15th century (Formula e Pagëzimit, Fjalorthi i A.Von Harfit dhe Perikopeja e Shen Matineut). Meanwhile, Buzuku (Meshari 1555), for us Albanians, is the starting point for text design. It was the time when the didactic reformer Czech pedagogue Jan Amos Komenski (1592-1670), with the first text in Latin, illustrated Orbis sensualium pictus (The Sensual World in Photography), arrived as the founder of the textbook theory. However, it can be concluded that the ABC book, the literature and grammar texts in particular, and the textbook in general, in Kosovo were of multiple importance to Albanians who were deprived of the right to education in Albanian language. The history of textbook design in Albanian language in Kosovo is very new. After the Renaissance, which was marked as a bright epoch in the effort to draft textbooks for Albanian schools, "The Literary Commission" (Komisia Letrare), established in Shkodra in 1916 would join to serve in the name of this cause. The aim of this body was to gather and publish the visions of Albanian folk literature such as: poetry and songs, tales, traditions, lessons, etc. Recently, efforts have been made to compile literary bibliographies in Albanian language. Nevertheless, it would be useful to continue with a bibliography of Albanian Language reading comprehension books in the school tradition in Albania, Kosovo and other areas where Albanians live and are educated in Albanian language. In Kosovo, Mati Logoreci is a pedagogue, is considered to be among the first textbook writers. This patriot and intellectual is a treasure of Albanian tradition in many fields, especially of education and school, as didactic, text analyst, organizer, controversial to highlight scientific, educational, social values. Mati Logoreci has an indisputable value in the history of the Albanian didactic thinking, in particular, the current educational values, adding to these values also some features of contemporary personality traits, traditional learning, within the learning methods. Logoreci was among the first Albanian educators in Kosovo. The path to development of the book in Albanian language in Kosovo was difficult, which at the same time is the best indicator of the situation of this group of the Albanians.

Saving Face and Atrocities: Sequence Expansions and Indirectness in Television Interviews

This article addresses the conversational process taking place during a TV interview in which the contrast shows up between the canonical procedure overseeing the succession and nature of conversational roles and turn-takings in contemporary media contexts and the preservation of an atavistic attitude tied to a traditional culture, Albanian tradition of oda. The discourse in these chambers is a revered phenomenon in the Albanian culture. The interviewee uses the traditional code of oral communication in the oda as a strategy for saving his honour in public, while the interviewer uses another code, the language of investigative journalism. In this paper, a detailed analysis of this interview shows how the sequences built on a basic adjacency pair operate to allow the interviewee to attempt to save face in a compromising situation. We see how the oda structures override normal turn-taking rules and how the face-work process (Goffman Interaction ritual. Essays on the face-to-face behavior, Doubleday, New York, 1967) is reflected in expanded sequences. We consider this topic as an extension of a potential CA analysis when describing how cultural forms with different procedural rules affect general turn-taking.

« Ce n'est pas Politique » - An Anthropological Approach of the Cognitive Relation Media/Politic

This article is part of a research project conducted by Prof.Dr. Aleksander Dhima, senior researcher and PhD candidate Irena Myzeqari, who are working together on behalf of the scientific projects organized and funded by the European university of Tirana. The aim of this project is to put light on some aspect of the medial reality in Albania regarding the sphere of public information, the political communication and with the absent democratic culture of transmitting this information. In this study are treated some theoretical and practical issues that are related with main features and elements of the political communication and with the handicap of communitarian communication that is completely absent in the Albanian cultural reality. Through a detailed anthropological analysis of actual performance of the political actors, this study tries to find some knots between their cultural “model” and the so called transparent “regime” of the political messages, especially during the electoral campaign. Based on a detailed analysis of the cultural indicators that cause the problematic actual co- dependence between media and politics in this country, this study aims to reassess whether is any real chances for an effective change in the field of collaboration between media and politics, and if so, which would be some of the possible mechanisms that would make this change possible. The impact of the findings, could serve as a methodological basis for answering why we have this state of collaboration between these two actors, an answer that could lead to other vectors of investigation in the future. In the study become clear the principal medial elements, that have influenced the political communication in the Albanian reality such as the fragility of the democratic process during transition; the centralizing motivation for public (non) engagement in decision making; limited freedom of thought and speech especially when referring to opinions articulated by scientific voices on political behaviour and ethics, as indicators conditioned by culture and other traditional factors of the social structure. Thanks to works conducted on the Albanian tradition, in the study are identified primary resources that generate authoritarian effects and negative consequences on these indicators.

Islam and Democracy at the Fringes of Europe: The Role of Useful Historical Legacies

AbstractThis article analyzes how the Muslim majority has engaged with, and contributed to parallel processes of democratization and European integration in post-Communist Albania. The assessment of Muslims' choices focuses on the Central organization, the Albanian Muslim Community, which is recognized by the state as the only authority in charge of all the administrative and spiritual issues pertinent to the community of Sunni believers, and serves as the main hub of respective religious activities in the country. The analysis of democratization, and Muslims' respective choices, are divided into two different periods, namely democratic transition (1990–1998) and democratic consolidation (1998–2013), each facing democratizing actors, including Muslim groups, with different challenges and issues. We argue that the existence of a useful pool of arguments from the past, the so-called Albanian tradition, has enabled Muslims to contravene controversial foreign influences and recast Islam in line with the democratic and European ideals of the Albanian post-communist polity. This set of historical legacies and arguments explain Muslims' similar positioning toward democracy throughout different stages marked by different institutional restrictions and state policies.

Postcards

Postcards Enkelena Shockett If you are thinking of making a journey into the realm of Albanian tales, the collection Djali me tre brirë [The Boy with Three Horns] will pleasantly satisfy your interests. It is the most fascinating book so far by the pen of Bardhyl Xhama. In it, the old Arabian tales, Aesop’s Fables and the Albanian tradition of animal tales are all interwoven in a masterful way. They also familiarize you with the Albanian culture and its traditions, while serving the purpose of social satire and providing moral instruction. The illustrations are vivid, emotionally evocative and full of life. They add flavor and brightness to the story as a whole. Indeed, the sophisticated interplay of text and image that distinguishes this contribution can be described in terms of a dialogue between verbal text and illustration. The effect of the innovative graphics and formats are striking. In other words, Djali me tre brirë is a captivating book, worthy of praise. Bardhyl Xhama Djali me tre brirë [The Boy with Three Horns] 72 pages Tiranë: EUGEN, 2012 ISBN 978-9928-03-154-9 [End Page 75] Copyright © 2015 Bookbird, Inc.

From the German-speaking point of view: Unholy Empire, Balkanism, and the culture circle particularism of Albanian studies

In this paper, I aim to contribute to the debate about hegemonic relations between the West European “core” and southeast European “margins,” by showing the links between mutually challenged and engendered quasi-anthropological traditions in the totalitarian projects of nation-building and empire-building. New aspects of a continuous resonance will be addressed between a politically instrumentalized Albanian tradition of “folk” or people's culture studies ( kultura popullore) and a German-speaking tradition of Volks- and Völkerkunde grounded in Herderean Romanticism and the imperial ambitions of the nineteenth century. In the course of discussion the successive German traditions of National-Socialist Volkskunde and Communist East German Ethnographie, until the revised tradition of Europäische Ethnologie in the 1990s, are shown to operate from a historicist tradition rather than from a critical tradition as a reflexive successor to former Volkskunde. In the course of this discussion, I will pay particular attention to contextualizing the historical and current production of knowledge by the German and Austrian “West” on a Balkan and Albanian culture, which is reduced to its archaic or pre-modern “traditions” and its specific or antiquated “mentalities.”

Crime, Punishment and Forensic Expertise According to the Albanian Tradition - A Commentary on the Native Customary Law

The Albanian customary law has been a source of continuous research and discussions. In the actual available printed mode, it is widely equalized with the Kanun, which represents a collection of the traditional laws and bylaws that governed northern regions of the country. Misinterpreted as a statute of blood feud, in fact, it was a collection of rules, laws and bylaws, serving as a Criminal and as a Civil Code for entire areas that referred to it as the single tool for rule of law, especially during five centuries of ottoman occupation. A detailed description of felonies, wrongdoings, misdemeanors and contraventions, with respective forms of punishment and remuneration, do suggest that the document testifies a highly sophisticated approach toward these phenomena, both in forensic and in legal terms.

Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Albanian Legal Reality

Desire and ability to mediate and to solve conflicts through conciliation is a national asset for any country. Every human society shows the development stage of its citizenry inter alia through the self-regulatory mechanisms of disputes arising within its members. History has shown that even within albanian society have been existed such mechanisms which have regulated coexistence for centuries. Further more, the albanian tradition reminds us that the institution of dispute settlement through conciliation is deeply rooted in our lives and in our good habits.In terms of economic development, it is time that this tradition of extrajudicial settlement of disputes to be provided on professional level, affecting more the legal aspects. The state court, which is traditionally known as the place where all conflicts are resolved, should be seen increasingly as an alternative. Besides its, other important alternatives of conflict resolution should be focused by the law, such as mediation and arbitration. Therefore, this article, through the method of interpretative analysis, aims to present an overview of the albanian reality of these alternative legal means, trying to highlight the legal framework as well as the judicial practice. It will attempt to clarify the problematic issues, addressed by the domestic law in this area and the necessity for eventual changes. Implementation of contemporary legal instruments in accordance with the international trend, especially focused on the arbitration institute, will certainly offer a good service to the integration process of the albanian economy. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n10p146

Inapplicability of advance directives in a paternalistic setting: the case of a post-communist health system

BackgroundThe Albanian medical system and Albanian health legislation have adopted a paternalistic position with regard to individual decision making. This reflects the practices of a not-so-remote past when state-run facilities and a totalitarian philosophy of medical care were politically imposed. Because of this history, advance directives concerning treatment refusal and do-not-resuscitate decisions are still extremely uncommon in Albania. Medical teams cannot abstain from intervening even when the patient explicitly and repeatedly solicits therapeutic abstinence. The Albanian law on health care has no provisions regarding limits or withdrawal of treatment. This restricts the individual's healthcare choices.DiscussionThe question of 'medically futile' interventions and pointless life-prolonging treatment has been discussed by several authors. Dutch physicians call such interventions 'medisch zinloos' (senseless), and the Netherlands, as one of the first states to legislate on end-of-life situations, actually regulates such issues through appropriate laws. In contrast, leaving an 'advance directive' is not a viable option for Albanian ailing individuals of advanced age. Verbal requests are provided during periods of mental competence, but unfortunately such instructions are rarely taken seriously, and none of them has ever been upheld in a legal or other official forum.SummaryEnd-of-life decisions, treatment refusal and do-not-resuscitate policies are hazardous options in Albania, from the legal point of view. Complying with them involves significant risk on the part of the physician. Culturally, the application of such instructions is influenced from a mixture of religious beliefs, death coping-behaviors and an immense confusion concerning the role of proxies as decision-makers. Nevertheless, Albanian tradition is familiar with the notion of 'amanet', a sort of living will that mainly deals the property and inheritance issues. Such living wills, verbally transmitted, may in certain cases include advance directives regarding end-of-life decisions of the patient including refusal or termination of futile medical treatments. Since these living wills are never formally and legally validated, their application is impossible and treatment refusal remains still non practicable. Tricks to avoid institutional treatment under desperate conditions are used, aiming to provide legal coverage for medical teams and relatives that in extreme situations comply with the advice of withholding senseless treatment.

Education with Principles of Pluralism and the Albanian Tradition of Political Thinking

Education with Principles of Pluralism and the Albanian Tradition of Political Thinking

Mythology and Destiny

In Albanian tradition, the essential attributes of the mythological figures of destiny seem to be symbolic interchangeable representations of birth itself. In addition, their mythical combat is but the symbolic representation of the cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, leading, like the vegetation, to the cosmic revival of a new birth. Both protective and destructive positions of the attributes of birth, symbolized by the amniotic membranes, the caul and other singular markers, or by the means of the symbolism of maternal water, would be only two antinomic oppositions, two complementary and interchangeable terms of the mythopoeic opposition of the immanence of universal regeneration. One could bring closer to the Albanian figures certain mythological representations in Scandinavian and Slavic traditions. At any case, the ambivalent representations of soul and destiny are not isolated in Albanian tradition. There are especially those which have also a function of assistance to childbirth, close to Greek representations of the destiny, personified there by the Moires, in Scandinavian and Germanic traditions by Nornes and in the Albanian tradition by other local figures.