Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians: Xenophobe's Guides
    The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians: Xenophobe's Guides
    The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians: Xenophobe's Guides
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians: Xenophobe's Guides

    By Alan Andoni

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    What makes the Albanians ALBANIAN: A witty guide to the airs and affectations that affirm the Albanian attitude. - See more at: http://www.xenophobes.com/the-Albanians/#sthash.dhnOHBuj.dpuf
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXenophobe's Guides
    Release dateApr 25, 2015
    ISBN9781908120960
    The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians: Xenophobe's Guides
    Author

    Alan Andoni

    Alan Andoni spent his formative years in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. His interest in all things Albanian began in the 1970s as a dedicated listener of foreign radio broadcasts. Radio Tirana was a particular favourite for its surreal, but stirring narrative. Visits to Albania over the years have convinced him that there is an allure which is both positive and infectious to anybody who spends any significant time there. He finds he has developed an aversion to micro-planning, a yearning for spontaneity and a tendency to commit random acts of kindness. He also tried to multi-task, but as a Northern European male, he still can't quite manage it.

    Related to The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians

    Titles in the series (32)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Anthropology For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      How Bias Begins

      Aug 3, 2023

      How Bias Begins
      2 min read

    • Article

      Defining Moments

      Sep 8, 2022

      Defining Moments
      1 min read

    • Article

      Better Spent Elsewhere: Why Philosophy Should Be Funded Less

      Jun 25, 2024

      In 2018, the investor William H. “Bill” Miller donated $75 million to the philosophy department at Johns Hopkins University, the biggest of its kind to any philosophy department (Carrig 2018). The act of charity was hailed as laudable because it woul

      23 min read

    • Article

      Encounters

      Jun 9, 2022

      Encounters
      5 min read

    • Article

      Strasbourg

      Jun 1, 2023

      Strasbourg
      3 min read

    • Article

      Alexandria, Egypt

      Feb 10, 2022

      Alexandria, Egypt
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Jewish Girl In Paris

      Aug 23, 2022

      Macmillan, 448 pages, £16.99 This very powerful debut novel written by Melanie Levensohn is inspired by the story of one of her husband’s relatives. The book, which is a journey of discovery, is set in three different periods: first Montreal in 1982,

      1 min read

    • Article

      Ukraine On The Brink, China’s Covid Fear And No 10 Holds Its Breath

      Jan 28, 2022

      The diplomatic avenues appear exhausted. The army units are in position. And perhaps most tellingly, nations including the US, Australia and Britain this week began moving embassy staff out of Kyiv. Is there any hope left of averting a Russian invasi

      1 min read

    • Article

      Homes in Puglia

      Jan 9, 2020

      One of the great delights of Italy is the remarkable diversity of its 20 official regions. Depending on where you are in this boot-shaped nation, the cuisine, traditions, dialect and architecture are all rather different. Puglia stands out more than

      8 min read

    • Article

      Kings Of The North

      Sep 23, 2020

      Kings Of The North
      4 min read

    • Article

      At The Crossroads Of Empires

      Mar 23, 2021

      The most important factor shaping the fate of this small but rather diverse region was its strategic position at the intersection of important communication routes connecting Central Europe with the Balkans, the Apennine Peninsula, and the Pannonian

      8 min read

    • Article

      Going Into Lockdown

      Jan 19, 2023

      Going Into Lockdown
      5 min read

    • Article

      Michael Wood On…

      Feb 16, 2023

      Michael Wood On…
      3 min read

    • Article

      Anniversaries

      Mar 14, 2024

      Anniversaries
      5 min read

    • Article

      What Makes A Greek?

      Jan 20, 2022

      The Greeks: A Global History by Roderick Beaton Faber, 608 pages, £25 Philip of Macedon – father of Alexander the Great – was famously victorious in the Olympic chariot race of 356 BC. The path to victory was not without its speedbumps, though, among

      2 min read

    • Article

      2023 Books Of The Year

      Nov 23, 2023

      2023 Books Of The Year
      12 min read

    • Article

      Shakespeare’s LONDON

      Oct 31, 2024

      Shakespeare’s LONDON
      14 min read

    • Article

      On A Roll

      Jan 27, 2023

      On A Roll
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Xenophobe's Guide to the Albanians - Alan Andoni

      Nationalism & Identity

      Pride and prejudice

      Albanians will tell you that they are proud to be Albanians. What they won’t tell you is why. Some will mention the national hero Skanderbeg, some the Illyrian tribes (from whom they are descended), some the language (‘the oldest in Europe’), and some Mother Teresa (an ethnic Albanian). The remarkable landscape might also be mentioned. However, the plain fact is that nobody really knows.

      On the other hand, they are aware of their reputation. Some are ready to describe themselves (or rather other Albanians) as lazy, corrupt, more interested in drinking coffee than working. Some present their country as spoilt, decaying and in disrepair – and their dream is to live outside the country. A common phrase is ‘Shqiperia nuk behet me Shqiptare’, ‘Albania cannot become [move ahead] with Albanians’.

      "A common phrase is ‘Albania cannot become with Albanians’."

      The more insightful point out that the nation managed to maintain its language, culture and identity (albeit heavily influenced by outsiders) for two millennia, endured persistent invasions by its neighbours, and occupation and administration by the Ottoman Turks for up to five centuries. They can also cite the Albanians’ ability to emerge after 40 years of the excesses of the communist regime and to survive under a succession of (it is said) inept, selfserving governments for a further 20. In the end, the flag of the black eagle on the red background and the national anthem (composed by a Romanian) give rise to a fulsome patriotism which galvanises a strong feeling of raw, unbridled pride that pays no heed to intellectual rationalisation. As in many nations, symbolic representations and slogans can eclipse meaningful thought.

      History matters

      If Albanians look to the future, it is to the immediate future for they have no faith in anything further ahead. As such, history plays a role in self-definition.

      In ancient times Albania was called Illyria and its tribes stretched as far north as presentday Slovenia. Though it has no counterpart today, the concept of Illyria is a cornerstone of identity for all Albanians, a large number of whom are located on its borders in Southern Montenegro, Western Macedonia, Northern Greece and in Kosovo where they form the majority ethnic group.

      Albanians look to the immediate futurefor they have nofaith in anything further ahead.

      The Albanians’ recent history is a little more ambiguous. There is a general consensus that the communist era was bad – because it limited freedom, because the population couldn’t travel abroad, and because people were sent to prison camps – though there is seldom any focus on detail. Albania is one of the few communist countries that (as yet) does not have a museum entirely dedicated to the victims of communism. The tangible legacy of the era is the concrete bunkers, 700,000 of which were built from 1967 until 1985; the intangible legacy is harder to assess. The house of the former dictator, the late and largely unlamented Enver Hoxha, still stands as a triumph of conceit over aesthetics in a corner of the ‘Bloku’, a part of the capital Tirana, originally reserved exclusively for the political elite. Some wonder whether the dictator is still there, twitchily peering out between the curtains, watching the people spill in and out of the bars and wondering what happened to his great experiment in Utopia.

      The house of the former dictator still stands as a triumph of conceit over aesthetics.

      How others see them

      Foreign observers of Albanians can be divided into two categories: those who have never been to Albania, and those who have.

      The former know only the negative stories of blood feuds, prostitution, drugs, violence and general evil. One commentator cynically put it that those in power might be happy with this negative view by outsiders since the fewer foreigners coming to Albania, the stronger their hold on society. The latter, those who venture to Albania, are pleasantly surprised, not least because their expectations are low. They find all the positives that are omitted in the general narrative.

      By and large, Albanians are viewed either as victims or as potential criminals. But Lord Byron admired Albanian courage and the anthropologist Edith Durham, aredoubtable British lady who spent much time travelling in the north of Albania at the beginning of the 20th century, developed a great respect for Albanian traditions, notably ‘ndera’ – honour, and ‘besa’ – trust. She felt that they had not been treated well by the world community. This is a view echoed by many Albanians.

      By and large, Albanians are viewed either as victims or as potential criminals.

      Albania’s nearest neighbours are not so overwhelming in their affection for Albanians. Some of them lay claim to Albanian territory, and some have observed that their countries host a large influx of Albanian immigrants who, it might be argued, take the jobs of the locals. However, others acknowledge that Albanians are merely doing the jobs that the locals don’t want to do.

      Meanwhile, the views of foreigners actually living in Albania are often coloured by the differences between their cultures. For example, the Japanese feel uneasy about the lack of collective effort ‘for the common good’, the Swiss complain of the ‘absence of order’, and the Germans grumble about the endemic ‘breaking of rules’.

      What is certain is that Albanians, while welcoming outsiders, have an inbuilt need to preserve their identity from outside influence. They have managed to do so for centuries and have every intention of continuing to do so in this one.

      How they see themselves

      The Albanians believe they are the smartest people in the world, and it is the combined effects of history, fate, terrible governments and rapacious neighbours that have conspired to keep them down.

      "The word ‘i zgjuar’(smart) has a particular resonance."

      The word ‘i zgjuar’ (smart) has a particular resonance. It is about ‘outsmarting’ others. It

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1