Socialist realism hit the Albanian drama, the pandemic also infected the rites

That Albanian drama, along with literature and culture, after the Second World War faced the installation of the method of socialist realism, which produced its sterile and dogmatic variants, was one of the findings in the literature session on the second day of the "Week of Albanology". And in a period like this, for more than half a century, only three authors who wrote plays have been recorded in Albanian literature. In parallel with the literature session, the ethnology session was also held, which had as its theme "New cultural practices in traditional rituals during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic". Marriages are also addressed, as well as the work of cultural institutions

COVID-19 on one side and the Albanian drama on the other, at first glance it seems that they are not related, but in this case they are not even contradictory to each other. Both topics, presented on different levels, one treated from the prism of ethnology and the other from the literary study, were points of reference on the second day of the scientific conference "Albanology Week", which comes with the 15th edition. 
The presentation of scientific papers is reserved for two different spaces of the Albanological Institute of Pristina. The first floor for literature, the second for ethnology. 

"Albanian drama 1945-1990" was the topic on which the researchers of this field addressed the attendees and the session started with Besim Rexhaj's speech on the topic "Paradoxes and frustrations of Albanian drama 1945-1990". Rexhaj first gave the historical and social context on which the Albanian dramaturgical activity was developed during the XNUMXth century.

"Not only Albanian drama, but also Albanian culture and literature, after the end of the Second World War, as well as all the countries of the Eastern Socialist Bloc, are faced with a socio-cultural situation, which, to say the least, can be called a situation of political frustration , cultural and artistic: face the installation of the method of socialist realism and, in this context, the comprehensive extension of the most severe, sterile and dogmatic variants of socialist realism - from that Stalinist variant to the Zhdanovist variant, which both, in essence, instrumentalized art in the exclusive function of the ideological state, namely the totalitarian state", he said.

He has mentioned some names who, during their activity, struggled to develop their intellectual and literary capacities in periods characterized by totalitarian ideologies. Kristo Floqi, Ethem Haxhiademi whom he called as the greatest Albanian tragedian of literature between the two world wars, Kasëm Trebeshina, Fadil Paçrami, but he did not leave without mentioning Dritëro Agolli either, even though he is known as a poet and prose writer, the contribution of his is undeniable in Albanian dramaturgy.

"I believe, were it not for the pressure exerted on his dramaturgy, he could have developed into a dramatist beyond the dramas we know like 'The Second Face' (1963), 'The Ballad of a Woman' and 'The White Age' (1986) , which, quite unexpectedly and paradoxically, is published in Kosovo by the publishing house 'Rilindja' before it was published in Albania, in the edition prepared by researcher Shaban Sinani in 2016", added Rexhaj, among others.

In the Literature Session, the myth in the Albanian drama was also discussed, other special figures in the Albanian drama were also not left out, such as Rexhep Qosja, Beqir Musliu, Teki Dervisihi, Anton Pashku, Dritëro Agolli, and Hivzi Sulejmani. Their work has been recalled through various critical and analytical perspectives. 

Meliza Krasniqi, an independent researcher at the Institute of Albanology in Pristina, was a special contribution to the scientific table. He referred to the topic "The three only Albanian playwrights until 1990". 

"From 1945 to 1990, in Albanian literature, we have identified only three authors who wrote plays, not to mention playwrights. Eglantina Mandia, Arsino Lino from Albania and Edi Shukriu from Kosovo. While Mandia and Lino wrote within the framework of socialist realism, representing the themes of the liberation war and the emancipation of intellectual women, Shukriu dealt with existential and mythological themes through the modernist approach. Each of them brought a unique perspective, enriching the landscape of Albanian dramaturgy and reflecting different political and social contexts", said Krasniqi.

Literary researcher Gëzim Aliu also spoke about Anton Pashku's place on this path of Albanian literature. In his statement, he shared his analytical views on the dramas "Gof" and "Sinkopa" for those present. 
"His style of creating a specific literary atmosphere in prose, as if not filled with enough air, as if we were in a vacuum, this of course in order to create a drama with minimal character actions, Pashku expresses and applies it in the two plays as well of his, published together in one volume, are entitled modern tragedies. Can we extract narrative elements from these dramatic texts by applying the achievements of transgeneric narratology, which uses narratological terms and concepts to research and find narrative elements in drama and lyric poetry as well. No doubt we can", said Aliu. 

He highly appreciates the Easter drama. According to him, it is complex in terms of different literary colors. 

"Easter texts that look like dramas, basically I think they are unusual literary texts, experimental efforts, which are built from a regular narrative sequence, monologues and dialogues at first sight with a meaning that is difficult to grasp, interpolation of documentary pieces, but also expression of ideas and ideologies", emphasized Aliu. 

As one of the most prominent and special names in the field of drama in Kosovo, playwright Arian Krasniqi called Teki Dervish. He mentioned his masterpiece, "Shore of Sorrow" built from nine dramatic parts, which took him a decade of work. 

"Dramatic literature of Kosovo in the eighth decade of the last century achieved a solid consolidation with prominent names of authors, mainly prose writers, who with passion, invention and creation traveled through the genre of drama towards the Temple of Talia. So, more and more names of playwrights appeared as authors of plays on the stage of the National Theater of Kosovo and other theaters. This literature, that is, the dramatic literature in Kosovo of this period also produced one of the most special, and in my opinion the most outstanding names of Albanian dramaturgy, Teki Dervishi, who with his dramatic masterpiece, 'Shore of Sorrow' (1985 ), marked not only his peak achievement in the field of drama, but also of dramaturgy in our country", said Krasniqi. 

While the Albanian drama was talked about below, the anthropological level discussed, among other things, the impact of a pandemic on social and cultural life. In the topic "New cultural practices in traditional rituals during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic", various studies, views and researches have been revealed, starting from the historical memory of Kosovo with pandemics to the cultural changes brought by COVID-19 in society. 

The session on Ethnology started with a statement by infectious disease specialist Sali Ahmeti, who gave an overview of how COVID-19 turned into a global and local health challenge of the XXI century. The opening of this table by a professional in the field of health was an illustration of the interdisciplinary interaction that different scientific fields should have in order to achieve a better understanding of certain phenomena and events in society. A research on the history of pandemics in Kosovar society was revealed by researcher Hatixe Ahmedi. Based on Ottoman archival documents, she shared with those present how the "Bad Smallpox" or otherwise known as Smallpox was manifested and how it was treated in Kosovo during the years 1890-1903. He presented three administrative documents from the years 1890 and 1892, which, among other things, illustrate the management of such conditions of public health in the Province of Kosovo. 
Researcher Bukurie Mustafa also shared her social survey in the circumstances of COVID-19 in the urban environments of North Macedonia at the scientific table. By observing from a distance, conditioned precisely by the preventive measures that were in force during that period, she had managed to identify many details that marked the change in people's behavior. But above all, the disregard of institutional calls for the protection and prevention of the virus. 

"In urban environments, within the neighborhoods, the most frequent violations of prohibitions occurred, regardless of the seriousness of the problem, which cost many people their lives, but as if the need to accompany, group and gather inside the building increased. There was a strange closeness of people and the effort to soften that collective gloom, so that there were those who with sound amplifiers played music for the whole neighborhood and as if the optimism and the momentary mood of the people sitting on the balconies and terraces were returned and it seemed like, COVIDI ended", she said, adding that after the research work, she came to a conclusion that at the individual level, awareness has been raised regarding the importance of interpersonal relationships. The session was completed by ethnologist Valon Shkodra, scientific advisor at IAP, with his perspective on cultural changes and new practices brought about by the pandemic. He has mentioned several practices, starting from the activities that once characterized the normal social condition and how they changed due to protective measures. He did not neglect certain rituals either. 

"Traditional ritual practices took a different direction. Celebrating weddings and family parties were banned, as a result of social isolation, because the chances of infection were very high. For the wedding ceremony, some of the young couples had postponed the previous days indefinitely, as a result of the virus. There were cases when marriages were performed only with the close family circle and with a limited number of friends", said Shkodra. 

"Albanology Week" today (Wednesday) on the third and last day brings folklore and ethnomusicology sessions on the topic "Oral and musical heritage in archives: texts, voices and sounds archived before new technological possibilities" and that of history in the topic "Ores and mining activities in Kosovo - historical reflections".