Skip to main content

Images of Albania

Gëzim Alpion, Albanian born and currently a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Birmingham, has a fascinating essay in the Albanian Journal of Politics entitled 'Western Media and the European “Other”: Images of Albania in the British Press in the New Millennium'. Here is the abstract for the essay:
Edward W. Said’s Orientalism invigorated as never before the debate on the biased representation of the Orient in the West. In the first part of the article, after highlighting the significance of Said’s work, the author then identifies some weaknesses and limitations of the Saidian approach arguing that, like the Near and the Middle East, other countries and regions around the world have an unsavoury image in the West as a result of an ongoing academic and media demonology. Concentrating on the coverage that the Balkans, especially Albania, have received in the West as from the start of the nineteenth century onwards, in the second part of the essay the author argues that the West has traditionally denigrated the European ‘other’ no less than the non-Europeans thus resulting in a cultural, historical and political fragmentation of the European continent which continues to have negative implications for Albania and the neighbouring countries as much as for the European Union. In the third part of the paper, through content-analysis of several articles that have appeared in the British press during the 2001-2005 period, the focus is on the disturbing tendency to denigrate the Albanian nation, a tendency which reveals a Euro-centric, post-imperial approach apparent in the Western media towards ‘estranged’ Europeans like the Albanians.

Comments

ancient clown said…
What I find most facinating about these reports is the degree of similarity with the treatment of the poor that FACTUALLY happens here in Canada & the U.S. as well, but NEVER gets reported.
I've dedicated a number of pages to sharing this information with pictures, videos, etc.
At this very moment a Godly man is on a hunger strike in jail in Victoria BC, protesting his unrighteous arrest, and general treatment of the poor overall.
I would be honored for your visit to learn more and add your flag to my counter.
your humble servant,
Ancient Clown
Anonymous said…
Fascinating !

Popular posts from this blog

Dy Rame Per Tirane

I was watching Top Channel last night, first the news, then Fiks Fare. According to them Tirana's citizens now have a choice not only between Rama and Olldashi, but also between Rama and Rama. A minor right-wing faction, Parti 'Balli Kombetar' , submitted papers to the election authorities registering their candidate, Akile Rama. The people on Fiks Fare got hold of the papers and sent a reporter and camera team to the address listed for Mr A Rama. After much ringing of the bell the gate was reluctantly opened by a middle-aged woman who refused to speak to the reporter and tried to close the gate on her. Back in the studio Saimiri and Doctori - the two presenters of Fiks Fare - revealed that Mr Akile Rama was 73 years old, in hospital, and did not know he was now a candidate for mayor. They also compared two documents - the papers submitted on his behalf, and a genuine document he had signed. The signatures were not even remotely similar. There was an interview with the lea

Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century

Another article on religion in Albania appeared yesterday. Patrick Poole, writing in the American Thinker , argues that Saudi funding for the construction of mosques and the training of imams is a threat to Albania, since these mosques and imams reflect the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.

Guide Turistike

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council , the future is bright for Albania. The Council ranks Albania ninth out of 174 countries for tourism growth over the next ten years. A summary of the Council's report is available, as is the full report complete with many pages of graphs, charts and spreadsheets. This summer I have seen a number of tourists on the streets of Tirana. Some of them may well be Albanian expats, or people of Albanian descent returning home to visit family, but others are genuine 'foreigners'. Judging from their appearance, they are probably best described as 'independent travellers' - the kind of people who are not interested in luxury hotels or crowded beaches. This is a good start, but independent travellers are not the kind of big spenders that the tourist industry likes. In the longer term, if Albania wants to bring in the kind of free-spending tourists who currently holiday in Croatia or Slovenia, there will have to be a huge invest