Myths of Albanian National Identity

Many elements of modern Albanian national ideology developed outside the Albanian lands themselves; this essay examines the ideas about the identity of the Albanian people which were put forward by an influential group of writers in early-twentieth-century America. The key figures were Fan Noli, Faik Konitsa, Kostandin Çekrezi and Kristo Dako. Although they wrote mainly in émigré papers, their arguments sought a much wider audience, especially in the period 1912–21, when the fate of Albania lay in the hands of the major Western powers. Four main categories of ‘myth’ or talismanic doctrine are identified and discussed. The myth of origins and priority claimed that the Albanians were the most ancient people of south-eastern Europe, having preceded even the ancient Greeks. The myth of ethnic homogeneity and cultural purity asserted that the Albanian people had never undergone any large-scale processes of admixture or dilution by foreign populations and foreign cultures. The myth of permanent national struggle maintained that Albanians had always fought to throw off rule by non-Albanians, whether Roman, Slav or Ottoman. And the myth of indifference to religion said that for the Albanians, religion had never been a primary marker of identity, and that their changes in religion had typically been tactical moves, made for the higher purpose of national survival. This mutually reinforcing pattern of claims thus offers a classic example of the mythic style of identity formation.