Albanians and Serbs: Common Epica

The article is translated from Periscope

Marjola Rukai

What's your latest study about?

The starting point is the multi-year-old controversy between Albanians and Yugoslavs over the authorship of the epic Cresnic songs. I've tried to analyze its political, social and cultural roots. These phenomena are very important in understanding the formation of modern nations in the Balkans and in Central and Eastern Europe, and the transition from interpersonal oral communication to written, printed and radio communication.

Such transition involves major social changes. Furthermore, these songs are key to the stage when ethnic or national groups initiate the process that leads them towards making modern nations for the Balkans, this process began at the end of the 18th century, but most characterizes the 19th century and even 21. In this process we have nationalisation of local traditions or aspects of spiritual and material culture at a local and regional level, and unification of them.

What do you mean by the contradiction between Albanians and Yugoslavs in epic songs?

It's authorship. What I care about anyway, is not who sang these songs first, but what has happened to these songs since the lahat have become national elites, like Albanian laha and gusla South Slav.

In what regions are these epic songs sung?

parts of northern Albania, Kosovo, and the western part of the south of Sandzak. Thanks to textbooks and literary adaptations for children from Mitrush Kuteli and in films and clips on YouTube, this tradition does not continue in Albania at the local level, but at the national level. Muji and Halili are no longer song heroes in the mountains of the Kelmend area, but have become national heroes of Albanians, expression of the nation's vitality. Lhoua é or gusla é has become a national symbol, integrated into hip hop groups like the Ethno Angels.

These songs were developed in the days when the oral tradition of dominoes, and then gathered according to certain criteria of canonisation and unification, nationalism and politicisation, especially in the context of Serbian-Albanian relations in Kosovo in the 20th century.

What inspired you to engage in such matters?

I have always been interested in relations between Serbs and Albanians. I began to think about the matter when I studied philology at Eqrem Albej University in my hometown, Gjirokastra. But I started working hard on the matter after studying in Warsaw and after learning Serbian language well. Unfortunately, few Albanian scholars speak Serbian, and vice versa, except for a few generations of old academics in Kosovo. Serbian recognition has allowed me to do research in the Rugova area [Kosovo], Sandzak and Montenegro.

When were these epic songs created?

There is no clear evidence. Serbian researchers link them to the events of Vojina Vanina, on the border between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire. Albanian researchers, on the other hand, believe these songs are the oldest and reflect conflict between proto-Albanians and Slavs.

What we can certainly say is that these songs tell different periods because they reflect the reality of their times. For example, some songs tell of battles fought by cold, medieval weapons rather than firearms. This dates back to the 15th century because we know that firearms spread to the Balkans after the 16th century.

Where are the similarities between Albanian and Serbian songs?

We were put together grouping Serbian and Albanian songs on one side, and Bosniak and Montenegrin on the other. The heroes are Muji and Halili. In Serbian and Albanian songs, Muji and Halili are the main heroes, while in Bosnian ones are secondary characters. What these songs have in common is that they are monophonics, accompanied by laha/gusla. Then, from a formal score, there are regional variations.

What produced the joints?

Basically, geographic proximity, but in my next book I will try to show that these are derived from a deep, even trilingual symbiosis between Slavs and Albanians in the Balkans during my Ottoman order, described very well by Milan Sufflay of the Middle Ages.

I am convinced that symbiosis between Albanians and southern Slavs has continued during the Ottoman order, but later religious categories -- Albanians, Bosniaks and Montenegrin Muslims -- against Albanians, Serbs, Montenegrins and Bosnian Christians.

The point of these traditions was the Sandzak region, where Milman Parry and Albert Lord found Albanian and Bosnian singers speaking two languages before and after World War II. I also met singers who speak both languages in the summer of 2006.

Are Serbs and Albanians aware of these in common?

Cultural elites are aware of the commons and differences. But these aspects are often distorted because of stereotypes, certain political situations, and the lack of knowledge regarding the fact that Albanians, Serbs and Bosnian scholars do not usually read the language of those with whom they dispute. It's been that I've heard scientific speeches filled with coatings and literary transformations, but with little science and rational arguments. I'm especially talking about Albanians.

How did these verses become the basis for forming national identities?

In the case of Serbs as an ethnic group or a nation, between the Kosovo battle and the early 19th century. The songs look like a historical source, and therefore became the basis for Serbian national ideology. Songs about the Kosovo War have created the Kosovo Serb sister-in-law since the 19th century. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, songs were seen as a source of inspiration as Serbs sought to legitimise territorial ambitions in Kosovo, Macedonia and northern Albania.

On the other hand, Albanian songs became part of Albanian national culture only from 1930 and until after World War II, in the context of developments in Kosovo. Albanian researchers have focused mainly on Lenenical fighters and have linked these issues to the origin of Albanians. The argument was simple: the songs are ancient and Albanian, demonstrating the autochthectality of Albanians in the Balkans.

Both theories are based on claims that songs are part of the nation's cultural identity. Yet, many issues must be addressed: For example, in the Vuk Karadzic verse, there is no song describing the Battle of Kosovo. Kosovo's Verse describes the moment before and after the battle, but not the battle itself.

While Albanian songs focus on the battle as a clash between Sultan Murat and Milos Kopliqi, Serbian songs refer to history but are not historical, as highlighted by many Serbian scholars, such as Hilarion Ruvarac, Miodrag Popovic, and Ivan Colovic. Albanian songs mostly talk about land, rather than battles on behalf of the nation, and have local characters, although their geography is very broad and sometimes they even connect Moscow with Belgrade.

What is the ettimology of the Hebrew word?

There are some theories on the matter. Numerous Serbian and Yugoslav scholars have traced the origin of the term Krajisnik, a fighter from the province. The province implies the region, in this case referring to the border region of Habsburga territory, now the Croat-Bosnian border. Albanians, on the other hand, explain the word by “the head” [on the top], as these warriors ran from the Maloer areas. In my opinion, Albanian explanations are not correct.

How do Serb-Albanian relations come out in these songs?

I don't know if we can talk about Serbian Albanian relations in epic songs by the 19th century. Of course, they are most widely presented in history, especially in Kosovo, but not in legends. The songs do not know the principle of the nation and therefore do not recognise either the Albanian nation or the Serb nation. The word “Albanian” is presented for the first time in a collection called “Vistares of the Nation”, published in 1937, where opponents of the creeds are Slavs, gos.

What does that mean?

This term is derived from the Latin word “slavus” and implies Slavic. It is now meant by Albanians to refer to the worst Serbs.