RU | EN
Submenu

Ermolin D. S. Symbolic Nation-building and Cultural Landscape of Kosovo Cities at the Turn of the Twenty First Century

Denis S. Ermolin
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: denis.ermolin@gmail.com

 

  Download  |  Go to Issue #1. 2020

 

УДК 394(497)
DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2020-1(7)-188-198

 

ABSTRACT. The paper discusses current strategies in the transformation of cultural landscape in postwar Kosovo. I regard cultural landscape, i. e. a piece of Earth’s surface deliberately shaped by man, as an extension of the so-called socially constructed reality (P. Berger & Th. Luckmann). In some cases, this symbolization is a strategic part of a nation-building project or just a way to declare one’s own presence, identity or affiliation. The creation of new heroes is one of the initial steps within the strategies of a nation-building process, as it forms an essential prerequisite for the feeling of common and shared history. The article analyzes the scope of personalities symbolically welcomed in Kosovo. The Republic of Kosovo is de jure a multi-ethnic society consisting of Albanian and other communities, and this is the way it is commonly perceived. However, the current strategies of symbolic nation-building appear to deeply contradict with the declared aspiration to build a common state and national identity among the peoples living in Kosovo. Therefore, my aim is to look into the strategies of memorialization in postwar Kosovo, focusing on this balancing between civic (as desired) and ethnic (as realized de facto) models of nation-building.

 

KEYWORDS: Balkans, Kosovo, Pristina, symbolic nation-building, commemoration strategies, urban space, cultural landscape, ethnic communities

 

REFERENCES

  • Златановић С. Дискурзивно обликовање „других“: српска заједница југоисточног Косова у послератном контексту // Гласник Етнографског института САНУ. 2011. № LIX (2). C. 77–87.
  • Azaryahu M. Renaming the Past: Changes in “City Text” in Germany and Austria, 1945–1947 // History and Memory. 1990. Vol. 2, № 2. P. 32–53.
  • Čolović I. The Balkans: The Terror of Culture. Essays in Political Anthropology. Baden-Baden, 2011.
  • Di Lellio A., Schwandner-Sievers S. The Legendary Commander: the construction of an Albanian masternarrative in post-war Kosovo // Nations and Nationalism. 2006. № 12. Issue 3. P. 513–529.
  • Di Lellio A. Kompleksiteti i pёrkujtimoreve tё luftёs nё Kosovё // Kosovo 2.0: Hapёsira publike. 2013. № 5. F. 79–82.
  • Halimi-Statovci D. Ergologjia e monumenteve pёrkushtuese // Gjurmime albanologjike. Folklor dhe etnologji. 2008. № 38. F. 171–194. 
  • Hoxha E. Qyteti dhe dashuria (ditar urban). Prishtinё, 2013.
  • Ingimundarson V. The Politics of Memory and the Reconstruction of Albanian National Identity in Postwar Kosovo // History and Memory. 2007. № 19 (1). P. 95–123.
  • Kolst. P. Introduction // Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe. London, 2014. P. 1–19.
  • Kosovo. IPSOS Strateging Marketing report. 2011.
  • Kraja M. Identiteti kosovar. Prishtinё, 2011. 
  • Krasniqi V. Kosovo: Topography of the Construction of the Nation // Strategies of Symbolic Nation-building in South Eastern Europe. London, 2014. P. 139–164. 
  • Obućina V. A War of Myths: Creation of the Founding Myth of Kosovo Albanians // Suvremene Teme /Contemporary Issues. 2011. Vol. 4, № 1. S. 30–44.
  • Sahatçiu V. Mbi monumentet e ish-Jugosllavisё dhe interpretimin e sё kaluarёs // Kosovo 2.0: Hapёsira publike. 2013. № 5. F. 76–78.
  • Schwandner-Sievers S., Di Lellio A. Udhëtimi i shenjtë drejt kombit: ndërtimi i një faltoreje në Kosovën e pasluftës // Përpjekja. 2007. № 24. F. 32–54.
  • Stroehle I. Pristina’s Martyrs’ Cemetery. Conflicting Commemorations // Südosteuropa. 2006. № 54. P. 404–425.