Written by: Kurt Gostentschnigg
The Albanian Literary Commission in Shkodër 1916–1918 is an excellent example of the combination of all relevant fields – the Field of Politics, the Field of the Army, the Field of Science and the Field of Brückenkopf, Albanian Bridgehead – related to Austro-Hungarian-Albanian relations. We refer here to the Theory of Practice (Praxeology) according to Pierre Bourdieu, which contains these main terms: Field, Habitus, Illusion, Doxa, Capital, such as Economic Capital, Cultural Capital, Social Capital and Symbolic Capital, and the Field of Power. The term “Brückenkopf” refers to the “Center-Periphery” model, according to which the world consists of nations in the center and nations in the periphery, and each nation has its own center and periphery. A key role in this model is played by the so-called “Brückenkopf”, Bridgehead, as the basis of the influence of the nation in the center over a nation in the periphery. It is a local elite class, which is ready for cooperation and largely adapts to the worldview of the metropolis, with self-interest in maintaining existing relations. This model is the starting point of Johan Galtung's Theory of Informal Imperialism or Cultural Imperialism with its key terms "structural violence" and "cultural violence".
The Albanian Literary Commission was established on the initiative of the civil commissar August Kral and was approved by order of the command of the Austro-Hungarian military corps on June 30, 1916. It began its activity with the first meeting on September 1, 1916. Its members were almost all the experts on linguistic and literary issues who were at that time in Albania: Maksimilian Lamberc and Rajko Nahtigal as advisory experts, Gjergj Pekmezi as chairman, appointed by the Austro-Hungarian military command, Aleksandër Xhuvani, Ndre Mjeda, Luigj Gurakuqi, Sotir Peci, Hil Mosi, Gjergj Fishta, Ambroz Marlaskaj, Mati Logoreci, Ndue Paluca and Luigj Naraçi. The Shkodran linguist Tomor Osmani also provided other members: Hafiz Ali Korça, Vincens Prenushi, Sali Nivica and Josif Haxhimima. The statutes of the commission stated: “The Albanian Literary Commission has the purpose and duty to serve the general directorate of education and, if necessary, the command of the military corps as an advisory and support body in matters of the Albanian language (orthography, terminology, grammar of the literary language) and Albanian literature. It consists of the general director of education as chairman, a deputy chairman, a secretary, as well as regular members and correspondents (external).” The activities of this commission included: the publication of unpublished works by Albanian writers, the publication of a monthly magazine (linguistics, literature, history, meeting reports) in possible cooperation with Albanologists from Austria-Hungary and Germany, the publication of school books, the publication of an Albanian-German dictionary, as well as advisory activities for other Albanian offices regarding the Albanian language. The Albanian language and literature had to be further developed, the orthography of both major dialects had to be improved and unified, and new words and technical terms for administration and the drafting of textbooks had to be created.
One of the main points of the activities of the Albanian Literary Commission was the creation of textbooks suitable for schools, launched in early 1917. The best textbooks of the monarchy were to be used as the basis for Albanian textbooks under the use of the existing Albanian literature, and the textbooks were to be compiled according to the principles of European morality and ethics under the exclusion of all topics and theses, which were contrary to the specific characteristics of one of the three religious confessions in Albania. Fishta, Logoreci, Paluca and Gasper Beltoja, the head of the translation office, were tasked with compiling arithmetic and reading books as well as a small language book for primary schools no later than April 15, 1917. In addition, the Albanian Literary Commission was instructed to compile all the books for the civic schools (Bürgerschule) in agreement with the general directorate of education and partly through its members and partly through other experts. The corps command emphasized that it strongly insisted on fulfilling the obligations undertaken, because it was determined to establish the Albanian school system in the shortest possible time on a modern and solely national basis. Then the orthography and language that had to be applied were fixed in the textbooks, the textbooks that had to be created and the provisional aids that had to be used were determined, the persons who had to be charged with the editorial work were chosen and a precise and time-limited work program was set. Other compilers of the textbooks, from which everything that could have led to conflicts between religious communities had to be eliminated according to the instructions of Ballhausplatz, were Aleksandër Xhuvani, Sotir Peci and Ndre Mjeda.
There was an internal conflict regarding the dialect issue: one side around Krali and Lamberci wanted to create a unified literary language based on the Elbasan dialect, another side around Pekmez and Nahtigal defended the coexistence of the two major dialects of Gheg and Tosk. The Dual Monarchy had as a principle not to interfere in the factual issues of language unification, but its diplomatic representatives tried to balance the hostile positions between the parties. Ballhausplatz leaned towards the unification of Gheg starting from Shkodra and the creation of a pre-stage for establishing the Elbasan dialect as the state language. All decisions, which were taken on this issue so important for the development of the Albanian language and for the education of the people, were communicated through the order of the corps command to the general directorate of education and the Albanian Literary Commission. Finally, the Albanian Literary Commission, in agreement with the Austro-Hungarian foreign ministry, confirmed on December 11, 1916, the decision of the Elbasan Congress in 1909 to choose the Elbasan dialect as the basis for a unified national language. On January 9, 1917, the corps command approved the initiative to call in suitable experts, especially Xhuvan, the corresponding member of the commission and resident in Elbasan, for a more detailed study of the Elbasan dialect and other dialects of Central Albania.
At the center of the respective conflict was the rivalry between Krali and Pekmez, the course of which we will attempt to show below through private correspondence between Krali, Rapaport, and Pekmez, as well as through a memorandum from Pekmez. It was Alfred Rapaporti, the head of the department for Albania at Ballhausplatz, who recommended Pekmez with strong arguments at the end of August 1916 to the civil commissar Kral in Shkodra regarding the formation of an Albanian literary commission: “This idealism, which advantageously distinguishes Pekmez from many of his compatriots, will also be pleasantly expressed in his activity in Shkodra. The main purpose of these lines is to ask you to support him in his work if possible. In fact, for obvious reasons, we have an interest in the future written Albanian language not being shaped according to the wishes of some Shkodra residents, but rather having a pan-Albanian character, as corresponds to the view of Pekmez and other linguists and is required by necessity, if we do not want to sever all ties between the Ghegs and the Tosks.” Krali promised Rapaport to take care of Pekmez in every way and at the same time informed him of his official report on the Albanian Literary Commission, which he himself had established. Through this report, Rapaport could learn what thoughts had guided Kralin in its founding and what major tasks would fall to Pekmez in its direction. But only two and a half months later, Pekmez's position as head of the commission was already in question and the contradiction between him and Krali was obvious, as can be seen from a private letter from Pekmez to Krali: "By sending the consul general the supplement to my report, I take the liberty of once again pointing out the differences that have unfortunately arisen in connection with the performance of the commission's duties. I do this because after a careful consideration and remembering my conversations at the Foreign Ministry in Vienna, I think I should draw attention to the fact that the creation of a so-called official language according to Gurakuqi's proposal, in which school textbooks were also to be written, was not the intention of the Foreign Ministry in Vienna and was not foreseen in the status of the commission, issued by the highest command in Albania. If we tried to create a mixed language that was not based on science, it would be essentially Geg, because the commission consists only of Geg, with the exception of myself and Pec. So it would be better to publish in Gheg now and in the future. We must think that many people, who will surely return to the country after the war, will not accept such a mixed language. Father Gjergj Fishta will also continue to use his own language for his private publications. I fear that we will have to remove textbooks written in this language again, as happened to us once because of the alphabet issue. In addition, there could also be political consequences. Please, Mr. Consul General, also consider that I as a person am only considered a philologist due to my many years of work. Therefore, I cannot agree with an unscientific work. I am very sorry that I am not in agreement with the Consul General, but the Foreign Ministry in Vienna has not clarified its view regarding my activity as chairman of the Albanian Literary Commission in such a way that I must always lead the commission against my conviction, which would have to happen if I only had to approve the agreements of the individual members. I am not alone in my conviction, it is also shared by Dom Ndre Mjeda, Sotir Peci and Hil Mosi, so a majority decision on this would not be possible.” Pekmezi felt betrayed and abandoned by Ballhausplatz and thrown into a conflict of conscience due to his dual position on the one hand as a linguist, who felt bound only to scientific truth, and on the other hand as the head of a commission, which had to achieve a political-linguistic goal in the service of national unity. Perhaps after the King's plea, Rapaport addressed Pekmez with his own soothing private letter, which had the function of siding with the one who defended the scientific point of view within the commission and motivating him to continue his work as the head of the commission: "Above all, you must think that you could not do the unscientific opposition, with which you must fight, a greater honor than to give up." This would remove the only Albanian defender of a linguistic point of view and open all doors to dilettantism... Of course, you should not expect the military administration to approve your requests in everything. It is therefore not a research instance, but a state one, which takes into consideration other judgments in addition to scientific moments. It is precisely for this reason that you must hold your ground in order to always raise your voice in the spirit of research results. In the formation of the Albanian written language, the voice of science must also be heard. In some, perhaps even many, points, the linguistic point of view will certainly also be taken into account. If this does not happen for one reason or another, then you can take comfort in the thought that the responsibility for not following scientific principles will not fall on you, but on the opposition, and the subsequent future will surely prove you right. Paluca's arrival in Shkodra will definitely be a valuable support for you, because he is a Geg. Therefore, people will understand that science is not identical to the Tosk view, as many Shkodra people presume.
In mid-December 1916, Krali complained to Rapaport about Pekmez's destructive behavior and assured him that the compromise on the dialect issue had been achieved only through Rapaport's influence on Pekmez. The commission was established primarily with the aim of creating a unified orthography for the Albanian language and to edit the decrees, orders and publications of the corps command in a manner of expression that was understandable throughout Albania. This commission's activity was intended not only to be of practical benefit to the current administration, but also to lay the foundation for the future unified written Albanian language. For weeks, or rather months, the commission had been debating the language issues related to this program, where Pekmez's influence was unfortunately not exercised in the spirit of balancing existing contradictions, but rather in that of an almost fanatical exacerbation of them. According to Krali, it was true that some Shkodra residents, such as Fathers Fishta and Marlaskaj, staunchly defended certain forms of Gheg, but even they could not close their eyes to Vienna's greater goal, which was politically and nationally important. They too had given their consent in various meetings to a whole series of innovations, which would bring the way of writing and pronouncing Gheg to a great extent closer to those of Tosk. On both of the last points, the commission's work was blocked, because Pekmezi, although Krali and everyone else had explained to him that this did not come before linguistic development, was not ready for any concessions and had declared the commission to be completely incompetent. According to Krali, several weeks ago, Pekmez had personally addressed the corps command, without the knowledge of the other members of the commission, with the request that first, the corps command should force the Albanians to use a certain orthography, second, any attempt to create a common written language should be abandoned and both dialects, both Gheg and Tosk, should be used simultaneously for the time being, and third, the commission should be strengthened by appointing a second Albanologist. The first request had been made in open violation of the corps command program. The second had brought about an aggravation of existing contradictions, for which the monarchy would later become responsible. It would also lead in practice to a decentralization of the literary movement in Albania, especially in the field of education, and would make it extremely difficult to publish textbooks for the whole of Albania. The third request aimed at the appointment of Professor Dr. Nahtigal from the University of Graz, who was the real author of various works published by Pekmez. Regarding this last request, Krali made a slightly ironic comment, which was not in favor of Pekmez's prestige: "I cannot name this request otherwise than as an admission of the inadequacy and weakness of his abilities, because he absolutely cannot solve the problems himself. I understand very well that a major part of his difficulties results from the fact that as a 'non-Albanian' he unfortunately has very little command of the Albanian language and above all he speaks it badly. "Still, Krali, in order to strengthen Pekmez's position, had dealt with all his requests, which were aimed at finding allies for him. Thus, at Pekmez's request, a special working committee of the Albanian Literary Commission was established with Naraç, Mjeda, and Xhuvan as members selected by Pekmez himself. When Xhuvani refused, the King immediately approved the appointment of Paluca, requested by Pekmezi. A very valuable collaborator of the commission was Gurakuqi, who tried to balance the contradictions with great tact, deep education and ardent patriotism and had won over the strongest initial opponents like Fishta and Marlaskaji almost entirely to Pekmez.
The civil commissioner did indeed exert tireless, but in vain, influence on the chairman of the commission, until Rapaport successfully intervened with Pekmez, which Krali described as follows in his letter to Rapaport: "I first tried to help, through countless and very long conversations, the various members of the commission to overcome the deadlock of consultations and to artificially provide Pekmez, without his noticing, with a majority. But he remained adamant, calling himself the only appointed Albanologist and all others as dilettantes and ignorant. His professorial and completely apolitical behavior, which belittles the opinions of others, has naturally created much dissatisfaction and division. When even personal influence was unsuccessful, I provoked an order from the corps command, which specified its wishes to the commission clearly and energetically. Meanwhile, Pekmezi had received your private letter dated December 1, 1916. I cannot thank you enough for your excellent arguments in your writing, which were point for point identical to my own views. The effect was great. The principles expressed in both documents, before which Pekmez could no longer close his eyes, brought about a complete reconciliation of contradictions at the commission meeting on December 11, 1916, so that the Elbasan dialect was unanimously accepted as the basis of a common written Albanian language for all of Albania. This also solved the issue of a common spelling in the best sense." Krali and the members of the commission were enthusiastic about this decision, which was a complete victory for Pekmez's ideas and could have been considered by Shkodra Gege, which had so far shown itself to be almost fanatical-separatist, as a confirmation of the decisions of the Elbasan congress at that time. But, instead of immediately implementing, as the corps command requested, the new decisions and starting with the new way of writing in "Posta e Shqypnis" and other publications, Pekmezi, according to Krali, already declared at the meeting of December 12, 1916 that this was not possible, because first a study of the Elbasan dialect and other dialects of Central Albania had to be carried out by Albanologists with phonographs, etc. Until then, changing the way of writing was not allowed. The King protested strongly against Pekmez's stance, calling him an obstructionist. He drew attention on the one hand to Pekmez's unique chance to gain Symbolic Capital for himself – to use Bourdieu's vocabulary – by fulfilling his duties as chairman of the commission, and on the other hand to the damage to both the Austro-Hungarian action in Albania and to Pekmez personally, if he continued to insist on his scientific view: “I do not want to allow the barely achieved success to be reduced again or to disappear altogether. That's why I want to do everything I can to implement the new, balanced way of writing and expressing myself as soon as possible. This does not in any way preempt scientific research and, as far as I can tell, I will not oppose the appointment of other experts. But I would have to take a stand against the fact that any progress would be postponed to the Greek calendars, if the workers desired by Pekmez were not ready for the journey for some reason or if financial obstacles arose. Incorrect spellings or incorrect expressions could later be corrected according to the results of scientific research, as is the case in any living language. But it cannot be tolerated that the linguistic development of Albanian, important for political and national reasons, is delayed for the sake of personal glory. By properly utilizing his current highly honored position as the first chairman of the first Albanian Literary Commission, Pekmezi could have gained scientific fame much more quickly and easily than would have been the case with a multi-year research activity in the villages of Elbasan, the linguistic results of which science would have had to wait perhaps for years. It is doubtful whether the political situation of the Albanian people at that rather distant time would have been such that they would have liked a grudging obligation to the research of professors. The entire tendency of the Albanian people to always be right, and all the experiences to date, especially on the issue of the alphabet, speak against this. It is not a matter of giving a people the scientifically and theoretically most perfect variant, but rather something that convinces the limited intelligence of the masses, balances existing contradictions, and is generally satisfactory. Further development, refinement and embellishment in detail can only be left to a more distant future... But we hold the continued existence of the Albanian Literary Commission very dear to our hearts, it is for us a linguistic necessity, so I would be very sorry if Pekmezi continued to show no understanding for this or even wanted to give up. I would be very grateful if you would further influence him in an appropriate manner and draw his attention to the damage that a lack of understanding on his part would cause not only to our action in Albania, but also to him personally.
In mid-March 1917, Krali also found words of appreciation for Lamberci's cooperation, who, despite his previous support for Fishta's view, who saw the Shkodran dialect as the future language of the country, although it was not spoken anywhere in Albania, had encouraged an impartial stance of the commission. In October 1917, Pekmezi was put on the other very important issue of the orthographic rules of the written Albanian language against those two members of the commission, whom Krali had highlighted in a laudatory manner in his reports: Lamberci and Gurakuci. Therefore, the commission made a decision in Pekmez's absence that was accepted by the corps command. As a result, Pekmez resigned. Krali, who had always supported Pekmez until then, abandoned him, because the corps command forced him to make a decision. Pekmez's reasoning in his resignation request suggests that he – regardless of the fact that he certainly had very personal motives for his decision – felt more like a member of the Albanological Field than of the Political Field and the Brückenkopf Field: “The result of the studies of the scientific delegation in Central Albania/Elbasan (Nahtigal, Lamberc, Pekmezi, Mjeda) shows the truth of my view that a written language or a unified language is not defined as a rule by a commission, but by important writers. In this specific case, the best connoisseur of the Albanian language and the distinguished writer would be Kostandin Kristoforidhi from Elbasan. This man's language also served me as the basis for the newspaper I edited, 'Vellaznija', which was founded before I was called to Albania. I must emphasize that this newspaper is the most widely read and most preferred newspaper in all of Albania, which is another proof of the truth of my views. When I returned from my vacation for in Shkodra, to continue the work in this spirit and to finally achieve a final success, I noticed with my greatest regret that neither my plans nor the results of my scientific studies were respected, but things went in a direction with which I could not agree in any way, considering my scientific convictions and my honor.
From the files of the Shkodra consulate archive in the State Court Archives in Vienna it appears that the rivalry between Krali and Pekmez apparently escalated into a personal enmity, which was called in the file the “Pekmezi affair”. According to Krali, Pekmez was plotting against him at the corps command, in order to find support in the Albanian Literary Commission from a new civilian commissar. In this connection, Krali mentioned the bad way of life of Pekmez’s wife in Albania. According to Pekmez, Krali allowed himself to be influenced by Pekmez’s opponents and therefore he showed a hostile attitude towards Pekmez. Krali even filed a lawsuit against Pekmez because of an insulting statement, which he later withdrew after a written statement from Pekmez. Allegedly, Pekmez had claimed in a Viennese café that Krali had earned additional income in silver coins.
In July 1916, Pekmez addressed a memorandum to Krali, which – according to the note in the relevant file – was never presented to Krali for unspecified reasons and which, in retrospect, sounds, despite the exaggerations at some points, like a self-fulfilling prophecy. It can be assumed that the line of argument expressed in it was, at least in general terms, the same that Pekmez later defended within the commission. However, it is difficult to judge whether an earlier presentation of the memorandum would have contributed to avoiding or increasing the mutual misunderstandings and prejudices between Krali and Pekmez. However, Pekmez divided his detailed memorandum into three aspects: a scientific one, a political one and a personal one. According to him, he had learned by chance that the Albanian administration had a plan to establish a commission, the task of which was primarily to exert a decisive influence on the development of the entire intellectual activity of the Albanian people through the treatment of linguistic and educational issues. Pekmezi had also heard that he would have the great honor of being called to this commission, the initiator of which was the Consul General Kral. Fully understanding on the one hand the nobility and importance of the goal on which this commission was based, and on the other hand the difficulty and responsibility that weighed on the shoulders of the members of the commission, he wanted to express his opinion regarding the foreseeable success of this planned enterprise and to present it in scientific, political and personal terms.
As for science, Pekmezi thought “that the planned commission, due to its composition, whatever it may be, will not be able to carry out the required task in a desired and satisfactory manner. Regarding the examination and treatment of the issues of a language, which is still at the beginning of its development, an indisputable scientific decision can only be expected from experts… But this knowledge is lacking in the men who will most likely be called to the commission. They all approach the work with a prejudice, which is based on the ambitions of a single language tribe. Besides, there is no one among them who would have the proper scientific training and the proper philological education.” Let one or the other know his dialect equally orally and in writing, and even have a poetic and literary activity – for the definition of a written language and an orthography, which all Albanian tribes have in common with each other, they are still not capable. From the poet and writer to the philologist and linguist was as far as from the linguist to the writer. In the history of the literature of other peoples there were examples where controversial issues of language had caused conflicts that lasted for decades. Thus began the most fierce wars and hostilities, when Vuk Stefanović Karadžić introduced the letter –j– into the Serbian language. Karadžić had to leave the country, although his point of view had been correct and would later gain ground. There were similar problems in the Albanian language. Referring to his anticipated activity in the commission, Pekmezi pessimistically stated: "In the planned commission my scientific point of view would find only a little understanding and support. In the vote I would be left with only my own views, which would have consequences, which I want to explain at the end of my submissions. Unfortunately, I cannot expect, based on my experiences in the commission, in which the majority decides, a solution to open issues, especially linguistic ones, which would serve the interests of the entire Albanian people."
In political terms, according to Pekmez, the consequences of resolving open issues could be of great importance. The commission, which met in Shkodra, would have mainly or only Shkodra members, who wanted to ensure that only their own views were established and that no other opinions were expressed in any way. Considering their minds, which considered the Shkodra dialect to be the most beautiful and expected good things to come only from Shkodra, filling their minds with a different point of view was almost completely ruled out. If the demands of the Shkodra members found a majority in the vote and were consequently accepted by the administration, the dialect of a tribe, spoken in a point on the outskirts of Albania, would be elevated to the written language. Communication with other tribes, who were in the opposite direction of Albanian territories and spoke other dialects, would not only be extremely difficult, but would also become almost impossible. For example, for an Albanian from Gjirokastra, the Shkodran dialect was certainly incomparably more difficult than any dialect of Central Albania. Other Albanian tribes would rightly feel neglected if the Shkodran dialect was preferred to their own dialects. In this connection, Pekmezi, perhaps intentionally, gave a very bleak picture of the future: “Hostilities will be caused among the Albanians themselves, the consequences of which could have an unimaginable impact. The Albanian people, who were supposed to be united and strengthened within themselves, being hot-blooded, would be brought through the aforementioned action to a point where they would be torn apart. In addition, there is a great danger that the Tosks, through the acceptance of the Shkodran dialect, would feel restricted and regressed in their linguistic peculiarity and deeply hurt, so that they would begin to engage in political adventures. " According to Pekmez, the following circumstances supported his view: In all Albanian churches in Italy, Tosk was preached, in all schools (p. sh. San Demetrio de Corona) was taught in Tuscan. Albanian writers in the past and present in Italy were Tosks and wrote in their own dialect. An Albanian living in Italy had published a textbook at the Otto Sauer publishing house in Heidelberg, which was supposed to enable Italians to learn the Tosk dialect. In addition, the existence of a large and well-organized Tosk colony in the United States, which had been using only Tosk in its newspapers and literary publications for many years, was also significant. The Tosk element of the Albanians was, as was known, more spiritually alive and therefore more developed than the Gheg one. Pekmezi warned of a dangerous cooling between the Tosks and the Dual Monarchy: “The circumstances presented could allow a current to emerge in Albania that could cause a slow cooling with the state, which was to be considered the liberator of Albania. "The administration risks achieving the opposite of what it wants through the proposed commission."
In the final presentation of the personal moment, Pekmezi drew attention to the risk to his Symbolic Capital – to speak again in Bourdieu's sense –, describing in detail the very delicate situation in which he would inevitably fall upon assuming the leadership function within the commission and which would predetermine him as a loser. To speak now again in Pekmez's words: For more than twenty years he had been working in a field to which he had been led by his love for the profession and his modest effort to help his people, as much as possible, in achieving a higher cultural level. His work in the field of philology and his other activities under the aegis of the Austro-Hungarian government, which he had served for many years with loyal gratitude and enthusiastic and selfless joy, had secured for him the esteem, prestige and trust of his compatriots. However, the following dilemma now arose: “My honorary appointment to this planned commission for resolving the oft-mentioned problems would easily place me in a situation from which it would be difficult to find a way out that would correspond to my position. In the commission, I could only represent the point of view that I have recognized as the right due to my scientific studies and have already presented in my books and writings. A departure from this point of view would be inconsistent with neither my honor as a scientist nor my honor as a man and would make me ridiculous in the circles of all serious and famous philologists and Albanologists. But if I insist on my scientific conviction within the committee, then I will undoubtedly come into conflict with the gentlemen who are considered to be sent to the committee and whom I know both personally and in their minds, and I will certainly be outvoted.” Up to this point, Pekmez's arguments are generally understandable. But what he wrote next seems illogical and at least unclear: "Through this humiliation, not only would my former friends among my compatriots become my sworn enemies, but at the same time I would also lose all my hard-earned prestige and trust over the years." I would be thrown into uncertainty and perhaps my ideal life's work would be destroyed immediately. "We can rather assume that Pekmez, through an outvote in the commission, would have become ridiculous in public and among his colleagues in the branch in the worst case only temporarily, but certainly his friends would not have become his enemies for this reason, nor would his life's work have been destroyed. I think the opposite would have happened more: Because of his loyalty to the scientific point of view, which would have led to his being outvoted in the committee, at least his colleagues in the department would have honored him even more, which would have meant a considerable increase in prestige in academic circles. However – and this must also be said fairly – it would have meant a great loss of prestige for him in political circles. This must have been the reason why Pekmez, who also considered himself an actor of the Political Field, again issued a threat towards Vienna: “Since my compatriots also know that I am in the service of the Austro-Hungarian government, it would not be excluded that the annoyance, which would be manifested in this case against me, would perhaps also extend against the Austro-Hungarian government and would create circumstances on which the interests and political directives hitherto of the Austro-Hungarian government regarding this Albanian issue could not influence to a great extent.”
Pekmez's memorandum concluded with a guiding proposal, which in his opinion corresponded theoretically and practically to the scientific ideal, but gave little hope of acceptance, because the people of Shkodër in their shortsightedness maintained that they did not need experts, but could decide for themselves: "Considering the circumstances currently prevailing in Albania, the determination of the written language should take the path that all Albanologists and philologists with whom I had the opportunity to speak have considered to be the only right one: an Albanologist goes to Central Albania, accompanied by several people who know the matter and the country, equipped with the necessary phonetic apparatus, to study the transitional dialects from Tosk to Gheg, to record them with a phonograph, to fix the phonetics accurately and to build in this way the skeleton of the future written Albanian language. This skeleton was to be dressed and adorned later with the beauties and richness of phraseology and lexicography of all Albanian dialects.” This proposal of Pekmez was accepted and was actually partially implemented later. He also showed that there were other ways of giving birth to a written language. Thus it could be the case that a poet or writer exercised, through the virtuoso mastery of his way of expression and writing, such a great influence on society that his language became the norm and overpowered any other dialect. This way or any other was currently excluded in Albania, because the intelligentsia itself either did not know how to read or had no desire for native reading.
As a conclusion, we can draw: regarding the dialect issue, Ballhausplatz, represented by Krali, wanted an accelerated agreement in favor of political goals and at the expense of science, while Pekmez, wavering between his positions as a scientific actor and a political actor, wanted to respond to scientific criteria, but in the end had to submit to pressure from Vienna.
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