Conference Myths in south-eastern European textbooks 22-24 October 2014, Tirana Myths in south-eastern European textbooks

Myths may reduce people self-esteem, as people who believe in them and in their power do not see themselves or the group they are part of as powerful enough to relay on ... They always feel small and powerless ...

Governments are interested to make those who they govern believe they need it, because they, themselves, do have power to govern. When someone opposes or criticizes a government decision or policy and suggest something else, he does this for, at the beginning, he believes he can do something in this regard. In Albania, when they say that this or that government decision, actually is the decision of a international power, then, that decision is accepted as something that is set in "Olympus" and for which it nothing can be done.

In this way, the modern man feels helpless, like primitive man, to the modern invisible terrific Olympus.

Often the history is the history of such acts of powers, being that individual or state, appearing as the only or final responsible for the fate of others.

  On the other hand, it seems people feel better in a world where heroes act, it seems like they have to justify their inaction, their social apathy, waiting for superman to come and solve their problems.

Government is interested in such an attitude, just waiting, not opposing, therefore, it feeds in different forms.

In this way, the myths keep fertile the bed for the creation of new myths, which is in the interest of policy and its various leaders ...

Mythology speaks of heroes who were punished, because they served humanity!

Often, not only in history textbooks, but also in everyday event, such as, for instance, TV debates or in the printed press, you notice that a great attention is paid to certain individuals, who in many cases are treated not in their historical, political, social environment, .., giving them the status of a myth, not very important at the beginning, but very important at the end.

Many historical writings address and judge certain individuals of the past as independent decision-makers, beyond the realms of time and space in which they lived. In this way, those powerful individuals became mythical heroes. They are mighty, but, when time comes they are "scapegoated", when a period, a class, a system should be saved etc. Rise them at the beginning and depose later, in order for the power to be safe. They are mythologized in order to be sacrificed to the interests of powers that lie beyond the protected walls.

Students (people) are taught about brave historical figures that took actions, trying to bring about changes for the benefit of humanity, against the governments (power). Heroes like Prometheus, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mandela, but also figures of our national history, etc.., who were punished because of their efforts. It seems that through these examples, children are not taught the model they should follows, but rather, the model that should not be followed if one wants to stay alive by fighting the power. In fact, this is the way how these martyrs and their deeds are interpreted by a lot of young people. And that's really pity!

There are hundreds, if not thousands, those who were prosecuted by the communist regime. Should they be part of our history? Do they serve any historical purpose? If any (and they do serve), what is the way it should be identified and used? Or what we need is just mythologizing the idea of a bad regime or them, as individuals? Considering our history textbooks, we can say that regarding these people, they are moving toward new myths. But we wonder, ladies and gentlemen, can our history textbook carry this heavy burden? And in the same time being able to safeguard the historical truth? Problems and challenges facing our history in this regards are numerous. They require solutions and that solution should be the result of a cooperation all actors.

In conclusion, we want to draw attention to a problem which is at the same time sexy and serious. We all know that people (has been and will remain) the biggest real author of mythology But today the people is being challenged by politics, in the creation of the new myths, even though it has to smile and live with the old ones.

We would kindly ask you to note something simple: The politics very often uses the term “ ordinary people”, in order to highlight the dreadful fact that, doing this, they are asking to be considered "the extraordinary ones", the gods. And they have the power to influence the writing of history.

And this is the point where all discussion starts again and the history writing is put under the same perpetual challenges…

Xhevair Lleshi, INSTITUTE AND UNIVERSITY TEXTBOOKS

Astrit Dautaj, EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (IDE) (IZHA-Albanian)

Myths and legends in support of political fraud of the history

Dr. Ndriçim Mehmeti (PhD)

In the history of Albania, like in almost every other country in the Balkans there have been coexisting in many years myths and legends that have largely replaced the historic truth. More over in our country, this distortion has happened in the period after the Second World War. Immediately after the communism was established, new and old myths are used serving the political ideology of that system. The new regime took care of that all the history, facts, scientific data to be addressed in such a way to show the new developments undertaken by the country and the success of the new government. Without putting a second thought to it, many pages of the history were erased. These pages had to do with inappropriate figures for the new government.

Its ideology reached a high level, especially after 1967. Almost everything was replaced by a new history, that didn’t have to do with the study of the history in itself, but putting it in the full service of the dictatorial system intentions that were installed in the country. Very little was taught about the historic developments and the reasons behind them, instead there was taught more and more about the principles of Marxism-Leninism. It was gone so far that every book of history, needed to have definitely a quote of the well-known communist leaders of the world and obviously beside them also the citations of Hoxha. This was a thorough model that encompassed almost all the Balkans.

Was this a model dictated by that era, in order to review the history by a critical perspective, or it was just a shield for the new regime? It was absolutely a shield for the new regime and in no line you could find that it was thought to review the history so that the young generations could better understand their past and to adjust the mistakes while constructing the future. In a violent way in Albania, the history suffered major and dramatic changes. Following the principle that “history is written by winners,” this last category violated everything considered by them old and coming from the past, throwing it away as something unnecessary. Whole volumes of books, manuscripts and also artworks were sealed and considered as prohibited, thus there was very little access to them afterwards. From the ancient and medieval times, there were raised bravery legends fighting against monsters (Bajloz), enemies that wanted to violate our country but that had the same ending, thus death. The history resembled more like depicting endless wars than a careful review of the epochs in which Albania and Albanian people had gone through. It is created an impression sometimes that this subjectivisms, has to do with deep nationalist tendency, to raise the Albanian nation above others. But this argument is weak and very unstable. More emphasise was given to some kind of internationalism that to the actual national history itself. As Castellan says, there is no doubt that, “all the countries (in the Balkans – N.M) were referred to a sort of Marxism-Leninism implemented in terms of multinational countries and mainly rural societies: these were two aspects that brought closer these countries with the Bolshevik Russia of the 20s.”⁹² Inspired by the models of Lenin and Stalin in creation of a new society, Albania made the utmost to implement this in its own conditions. This intention was served by the continuous combination of ancient, medieval, renaissance events with the “happy” days that the people were passing in the communism. History didn’t hesitate to criticise, Pyrrhus of Epirus and Scanderbeg and even some of the renaissance people. Some of the critics were about the fact that certain leaders in the ancient and medieval times didn’t hear the voice of the simple villagers; some other said that the renaissance people believed too much in religion, something that did not abide with the communist vision and leadership.

Regarding the nationalism and internationalism, they replaced each other as needed. As long as Albania had good relations with Yugoslavia, the people of Kosovo should feel happy under the new regime of Tito. When our relations broke up, Tito was the biggest dictator that was supressing our brothers in Kosovo and Yugoslavia. The same attitude was seen with our other neighbours. The phobic feeling that the regime had, was transmitted in the history texts as well. None of the Albanian neighbours was appropriate. The Yugoslavians were revisionists because they had betrayed the ideals of communism, the Italians were the enemies of Albania because they had conquered Albania twice, whereas the Greeks were monarch-fascists and which them we had no relations at all. Furthermore the west was condemned more than our neighbours. The English were devious because they wanted to occupy Albania; the Americans were the gendarmes of the worlds and so forth. Thus it was clear that in the inner and outer aspects there were distortions and myths which didn’t abide with the historical truth.

Legends and myths in ancient and medieval times

The writing of the ancient history, and also other periods, was supported in two main lines: Glory of kings in front, greed of Roma, Byzantine and other conquerors, and the contradiction of them, whom governed with a conqueror mentality, of the rich oppressing the poor, of the low political involvement of the peasantry etc. You could rarely find in this period an analysis of a civilization, its features, comparisons with another world etc. It was clear that this was had no importance what so ever. Also in the history, the folklore of bravery that came from folk-songs for GjergjElez Alia, Muji and Halili etc. was not separated properly. Every internal political movement was put either in the context of the peoples fight or in the context of an internal betray. Nobody spoke about institutions, because those were in the hand of man. We can say that the Albanians were a combative, fearless population that were frequently harassed by foreigners. Somewhat this argument was acceptable, but it was inflated so much and was clothed with so many mystical elements, that it arrived in one point, where it was difficult to separate between reality and fantasy. History was put in service of how much and in what way it will inspire the population and not to speak up the truth and to face the reality. This happened because life was so much politicized at that time that for instance in one case the critics made by the youth organization in 1973 about the contents of the textbooks and politicization of many social aspects of life, Hoxha replied with the expression that “Albania and Albanian didn’t have what to learn from the Europeans.”⁹³

As for the medieval times, it was spoken more about the glorious figure of Scanderbeg. Without any doubt Scanderbeg was and still is a glorious figure of a people’s hero present in the history of many populations. Albania had found its symbol for freedom, in the period of time where its identity was seriously threatened by the Osman Turks. In all his dimensions, Scanderbeg, has a high appraisal not only by our historiography but also the foreign one. His resistance made that many Italian chronicle-writers actually wrote with a distinct admiration for him. It wasn’t coincidence that he took so many titles like: “Protector of Christianity,” “The Sword of Christ,” “Shield of Christianity” etc. However here and there it was not left without mentioning that he relied on “the simple villagers,” something that no leader had made before and only the Party of Labour and EnverHoxha did many years later. Naturally this thing does not darken the role and the figure of our national Hero, but deepening in knowing him, putting his role in the context of that era, would be much more beneficial than general considerations with political background.

Afterwards all the poorness, underdevelopment and sins were billed to the Osman occupation. In reality Albania suffered the consequences of a great damage which happened in many areas as fault of Osman occupation. Even today there is a heated discussion for the consequences of that occupation as some call it or administering the territory as others call it. Nevertheless, in narrating the events that described this period there are seen problems as those stated above: Leaving all the responsibilities to the conqueror, treating them in a discriminative manner and lastly a superficial treatment of some phenomena of the Albanians, as compared to other European and Balkans countries conquered by the Ottomans. By this I mean a weakened resistance movement, Islamising factors etc.

Continuation of the myth in the Renaissance

The period of Renaissance or rightly named by the Albanian scholar S. Skendi as “Albanian national weak up,” is one of the key eras in the history of the Albanian nation. It seems like Albanians meet again each-other, wake up from a deep and long dream, to join forces towards freedom and prosperity. But in what quantity was this visible by the way the history was written? It was this period that not only mythicized some historical figures, but helped in disappearing and punishing of some others. There was no place for historical figures that were not adapt to the communist system. The figure of Ismail Qemali was mythicized and some other figures were left in shadow. Qemali was used as the only figure to show that like him, EnverHoxha could do history by themselves by considering the followers as their vassals. Documents and photos were forged, where the most important one was that of independence and afterwards people close to Hoxha were introduced as founders of the Albanian state. The myth of independence was used for as long as the regime wanted it to be used and then was replaced with 29^th of November that took more value than the independence of the country. Naturally it wasn’t forgotten that in different publishing of the text of history that a part of those who were present in declaring the independence were fascism collaborators, bourgeoisie, and satrap regime of King Zog etc. Thus in this case different elements or historical figures were displaced from the era that they existed, bringing them in another era. This phenomenon happened because the truth had to be replaced by myths and the legends had to replace the historical fact.

Distortion between two world wars
As the other periods, also this period placed at the centre of it A. Zogu. Unlike Pyrrhus of Epirus, Teuta, Ismail Qemali, King Zog was target of an attack, describing him as the worst man that our country’s history had ever seen. Also in this case the myth of the negative leader was created with the only objective so he could be compared with the positive myth that was Hoxha. Zog was a heartless, wild bloodthirsty killer that brought nothing good for Albania but misery. Also in the history textbooks the comparisons of development in different fields like in education, health, economy, etc., were made against year 1938. Even today is hard to explain why 1938 in the textbooks of that era was taken as a reference for all the developments that occurred after World War II. Naturally what was sure is that history was restrained by such terms as betrayal, fascism of Albania, violence against Albanians etc. Was this the whole truth, or just a manipulation of that? “The contribution of King Zog is of very high importance. The ones that replaced him as rulers of Albania, by finalizing the construction of a modern Albanian state, found out that he left behind him a very easy terrain, as a result of creating the nationalism feelings, for which the merit goes to Ahmet Zogu.”⁹⁴ The truth cannot only be composed of pink colour. The same author states certain flaws of Zog, where he gives much more input like for instance in economy, education and to a more advanced society.
The myth of Second World War
A propaganda machinery that included history, arts, culture and literature was placed in service of the most heroic events of Second World War, which happened after 1944. Very carefully treated, the Second World War, revealed a name and a political force, the Communist Party of Albania and her glorious leader, EnverHoxha. The events treated by history textbooks indirectly bounced around certain figures of the communist movement in Albania and widened up more by getting into fake details, expressing the undisputable role of Hoxha in organizing, directing and processing of all successful plans for war. In history textbooks there were found photos in which Hoxha was definitely in the centre and surrounded by others in its sides or around him. He rebuilt, like every other dictator, a bright and inviolable past which was naturally distinct from the others. The photos were changed based on the friendships at that moment in time. When we broke up with Tito, he wasn’t part of textbooks anymore and was announced as being an enemy for our country. Stalin was in the centre of the texts and also in the life of the country. Almost in all cities you could have found his photo or his bust. Even when his own patria abandoned him, he was mythicized in the Albanian textbooks of history as a man who discomfited the Nazism and build up a happy life for his own people. The unbreakable friendships of Albanian communists were replacing each-other from Beograd in Moscow and from Moscow to the far land of Beijing by concluding with the love Albania had for Castro’s Cuba.
As time went by, Hoxha recreated his own not very popular past turning it in a famous one. In textbooks he was treated as a Messiah that came wright in the time his people needed him the most, born to save people from the evilness of fascism and the old society that exploited the ordinary people. He was the God that was missing to Albania. It was made so much effort to put in centre his figure, that in a collective madness, his death was perceived as a social drama of one entire nation. The perception was created that the country had lost its orientation and fear of losing the glory of the happiest nation in the world was prevailing among the population.This was due to the tragic consequence of that myth by which many generations were educated upon in the years after the Second World War.
But why this happened. Maybe because of the fact that it was never understood that “consuming history” means to pass over individual and familiar experience by inserting in a wider ensemble built in an urologic perspective (before, during and after) and spatial as well (events which had local, national, continental or global importance), it means to transform memories, serving as raw materials, into a finished product: in a historical portend”⁹⁵

In 1990, the fear was weaker and weaker, in relation with the evil that was expected to come leaving space for hope to prevail. In the years that followed the role of mythicizing the history was seen very clear in the consequences that were caused. “The dramatic escape of 14 years old Albanians that wanted to look the lights of Brindisi, showed not only deficiencies in education in families, but also the overall failure of the ideological formation of the youth of EnverHoxha.”⁹⁶

Repairing the consequences in our society seems to need more time than we thought. Myths legacy was not left behind even in democracy. You find fewer than before the 90s, but nevertheless there are seen certain tendencies for mythicizing historical periods or new and old figures. On the other hand you can still find cautious people that are careful of not mentioning him or his historical figure, because of fear that they might get marked as traitors. There are seen clear and unhidden tendencies to rehabilitate certain period of the history and especially that of Second World War.

Still we haven’t understood what is the role of history and the role of government. Every time that this two mediums are clearly or stealthily involved, the history is distorted and enters in the vicious circle of doing history as those that are done in a coffee shop.

That’s why the expression is still valid that “In the Balkans you produce more history than you consume.”

Dr. Ndriçim Mehmeti (PhD) Professor in European Study Institute Expert in Education Field  Tel: + 355 42 34 01 34 Mob: [phone] E mail: [e-mail]

“The Myth of a Leader”: Enver Hoxha’s role during the Second World War in Albania

Dr. Enriketa Pandelejmoni

Department of History

University of Tirana

The aim of this paper would be to shed light on the role of the Albanian Communist Party leader during the IIWW in Albania and how his figure was reflected into Albanian textbooks before and after 1990. The analysis will be focus on the school textbooks dealing with the history of Albania and the IIWW.

Enriketa Pandelejmoni is lecturer at the Department of history at the Faculty of History and Philology of the University of Tirana. Her main research focuses are issues dealing with Albanian modern history.

The myth of “return to Europe” in Public Discourses and Textbooks of Transitional Albania

Dr. Enis Sulstarova

After the end of communism, the idea of the “return to Europe” in Albania took up the features of a political myth that legitimizes the post-communist transition to capitalism, liberal-democracy and the EU integration. It is a myth because, firstly it assumes a European unity and identity that never existed until recently and therefore there is no historical entity to return to. Secondly, the myth of the “return to Europe” supposes an unchanged European identity of throughout the ages waiting to be rediscovered and regained by the present generations of Albanians. Such suppositions cannot be sustained by what we know from how collective identities are made and unmade during history. Thirdly, the Albanian discourse of the “return to Europe”, like similar versions of other nations in South-East Europe, establishes the relationship between the past and the present through a teleological reasoning that fits past events in a single narrative about Albania longing to join Europe. Within this framework the “return to Europe” is related to the antemurale myth of Skanderbeg that describes the Albanians as a nation sacrificed for the protection of European civilization from the Ottoman barbarism.

In this paper we follow the theory of Chiara Bottici, for whom political myths are a continuous work of a basic narrative that provides significance to the political condition and deeds of a group of people. We argue that the myth of “return to Europe” (together with the related antemurale myth) has had an emancipatory function in transitional Albania, because it offered an orientation and promoted social change, but on the other hand it also has had an exclusive function when it was articulated to police the symbolic boundaries of European and Albanian identities, against supposed “Eastern” polluters. The data analyzed in this paper consist of (1) texts from public intellectuals and (2) national history textbooks in use during the transition period.