Othello in the Balkans: Performing Race Rhetoric on the Albanian Stage

This essay examines the racialized rhetoric in Fan Noli’s 1916 Othello translation and the racialized performance techniques employed in A.J. Ricko’s 1953 National Theatre of Albania production. Hoping to combat racial discrimination in Albania, Noli’s translation of Othello renders the Moor an exceptional Turk whose alienation in Venice was designed to mirror the Albanophobic experiences of Albanian immigrants. Moreover, the Albanian Othello can serve as a platform for addressing ethno-racial tensions between Albanians and Turks, northern and southern Albanians, and Albanians of color and white Albanians. Both Noli and Ricko believed there was an anti-racist power inherent within Shakespeare’s play. In the end, however, the race-based rhetoric in the Albanian language, the use of blackface make-up in performance, and the logic and rhetoric of Shakespeare’s play itself challenged these lofty goals for race-healing.

Neither ‘Good’ nor ‘Bad’: Reinventing Albanian Identities in Eduart and Mirupafshim

Taking Eduart as its departure point, this chapter looks into discourses of criminality and exclusion that targeted almost exclusively Albanian immigrants in the early 1990s and 2000s. The chapter thus addresses the historical rivalry between Greece and Albania which underlies Albanian-targeted racism. Alongside Eduart, Mirupafshim is also included for an original evocation of Albanian identities as indeed both films move beyond clichés of either ‘bad’ (illegal immigrants and presumably criminals) or ‘good’ Albanians (submissive victims of racist violence) which featured strongly in the media. Eduart and Mirupafshim screen unfavorable Albanian identities, confronting directly public fears and media discourse. Rather than a discussion on form, this chapter launches a broad cultural debate on identity and how Greek immigration cinema offers an alternative to xenophobic media discourse.

IMMIGRATION ANALYSIS AND REMITTANCES COMPOSITION: A CASE STUDY FROM KORCA, ALBANIA

This study aims to realize an analysis of immigration issues and also issues related to remittances. Our focus will be the analysis of these issues in the case of Albanian immigrants from the Korca region. Through the study, we will reveal some of the immigrant's characteristics, the reason for immigration, the benefits that immigration has brought to them, financial and also other benefits. Regarding the remittances, we will see in detail the composi-tion of remittances sent from the immigrants of this region, the reason why they are being sent, their supposed and real usage and other issues. The greatest part of the study is based on the information collected by using a ques-tionnaire, which included the participation of 210 respondents. The analysis conducted revealed that the main part of the respondents had chosen to immigrate for financial reasons, the most part of them had not a high level of education, and what we also revealed was the fact that immigration had improved the employment status of the respondents and had increased their opportunities for career. Regarding the remittances, the study revealed that the main purpose of using remittances was for consumption and moral responsibility was one of the main reasons for sending remittances. In general, the study revealed that immigration has had a great impact on the immigrants' life and also on their families' life.

The Acculturation and Ethnic Identity of the Albanian Immigrants in Italy

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