Written by Ermal Mulosmani
Every time the representatives of Albania and Kosovo play football, structured stratifications in the identity or cultural formation of Albanians in both countries begin to surface.
I will briefly mention three cases that happened to me.
The first case was the day after the match, Friday. As soon as I got to work and the discussions started, someone said:
"I was even more upset that "they" won than by our loss..."
And laughed…
He looked for some approval for the statement and, when he didn't find it, changed the subject (there were two others at the table).
It was a sincere and essentially innocent statement. That person had nothing to do with Kosovo. They are Albanians too, but "different". How can I say sub-Albanians. What if they turn out to be stronger than us? This is intolerable.
The other two cases were public reactions to my Facebook statuses.
In one, I wrote about the inferiority of the Albanian national team to the opponent and closed with the words:
"While Kosovo yesterday showed why they are there. With play, spectacle, goals, creativity. They had sent their reserves to Albania (Gjimshiti, Ismajli, Ajeti, Hoxha, etc.). And yet it was so good to watch..."
A commentator, an acquaintance of mine, responds with fire:
"Actually, the bad thing yesterday came from Bajrami who missed the second goal, maybe he had a duty, but those reserves are doing their job by taking them away from us and cleaning up our team."
So, the gentleman was seeing the evil in the “Kosovars” of the national team, and even added without hesitation that “maybe he had a duty.” He did not touch on the fact that our goal was prepared by two “Kosovars” (Ismajli passed it and Hoxha scored it).
The third case came to me from a person for whose quality of thought and clarity of expression I have special respect. In response to a status of mine, where I expressed some dissatisfaction with the impossibility of finding tickets for the “Kosovo-Turkey” match, the person expressed himself with a kind of cynicism:
"Tell So-and-so that there are special tickets for Kosovo-centrics" accompanied by icons of fun.
*******
Kosovocentrism is a concept widely spread among some citizens of the Republic of Kosovo and defended with pathos by them in public debates. According to this concept, Kosovo has its own state, its own culture, its own sports and many other aspects of identity. For these people, the interests of the state of Kosovo are paramount even to the interests of the state of Albania.
There is a nervous reaction from the rest of Albanians everywhere in the world, but especially in Albania, towards these people and their concepts. The apostles of the "mother state" call Kosovo a ridiculous uprising, an empty pride, a "false identity" or even a "non-state".
Their successes in culture, famous names in music, cinema, and sports are the property of the nation (meaning Albania, this centuries-old greatness), while their shortcomings are "the work of Kosovars, Aman."
The “owners of the nation” are the citizens of Albania, the others are tenants who must love the “country of the ancestors” (meaning the owners) unconditionally. They must even love it more than the owners themselves! They have been given the name “Albanians”, just like the owners, even though they are tenants. So they must be grateful. They must not have their own home, they must not have a cultural, sports, or political identity. “We are enough for you, what do you need an identity for?”. At most, you are a color in the Albanian identity spectrum. The word comes from Pogradec, Vlora, Gjirokastra, Libohova, Berat, Kolonja e madhe, Elbasan, and even Tirana, and let's just say that, yes, there is also a color, Kosovo. Do you see how generous we are?!
And Kosovars should be honored to be like that. They should come to the “National” of mother Albania, to come to the “National” Festival of Song, Literature, Judo, ice hockey or golf. Because only when they come to the “mother's fold” are they Albanian and good. When they do things themselves, when they have international successes, when they defeat “mother” they are somewhat ungrateful and sectarian.
Yes, I am a Kosovan centrist. The reasons are very complex, stemming from my origins, my upbringing as a child, and the lifelong connections I have had with citizens of Kosovo.
But above all, the main reason is that Kosovo is in dire need of a state identity right now.
A participation of Kosovo in the World Cup is a terrifying act for Serbia, it is equivalent to the recognition of 20 UN countries. Kosovo would receive an extraordinary affirmation and would be accepted as a reality. A charming reality that is offering the world top-level singers, athletes and artists who are capturing the Oscar and World Cup stages. As much as Kosovo has given the world in these 10 years, "mother Albania" has not given it in 115 years of statehood.
That's why I would choose Kosovo's participation over Albania's. Unquestionably.
But the most beautiful thing I have noticed, not without pleasure. The Kosovo dialect has also invaded the music of "mother" Albania. Elvana Gjata, Alban Skënderaj but also many other singers of "mother", have introduced Kosovo slang in the lyrics of their best songs. Meanwhile, none of the "black tenants" of the nation feels it necessary to speak in the standard language of their mother.
This is a topic that I would go into at length and no one has that much time to read. But every person needs to have their own identity with which they feel best. Identity is not given to you by your mother, father, or the place where you were born and raised. They certainly give you aspects of identity, but what I call identity is much broader.
Identity is the totality of the traces that life experiences have left on a person. Identity is the commonality I have with a certain community in emotional, cultural, literary, sporting, political formation. The more I add identity elements, the smaller the community becomes of which I feel myself a part.
But if I had to choose between an identity affiliation, elements of which are more within me, I would choose the Kosovar identity. So yes, I am Kosovar-centric.
And I don't see anything funny here.
t7 live
