Ferdonije Qerkezi – a living testimony of what happened in Kosovo

Through an analysis of the case of Ferdonije Qerkezi – a Kosovar woman known as an icon of despair – I demonstrate how icons that become examples of tragedy, or loss, can act as a catalyst for generative emotions in a wider society and offer a path towards restoring ontological security.

Ontological Security Studies (OSS) argue that groups, societies, and states seek predictability and stability through the invocation and implementation of narratives. These narratives are often disseminated through the invocation of icons, limited as their embodiment. The focus within OSS has been primarily on such narratives and their associated icons, which exalt bravery and glory. The role of icons that embody loss or tragedy, including despair, defeat, suffering, and submission, has been less explored by OSS. Through a case analysis of Ferdonije Qerkezi – a Kosovar woman known as an icon of despair – I demonstrate how icons that become exemplars of tragedy, or loss, can act as catalysts for generative emotions in a wider society and provide a pathway toward restoring ontological security. Thus, we demonstrate how their fate can be used to fulfill a performative function, through which they exercise affective actions by positively shaping collective narratives of ontological security.

"With a woman like Mother Ferdonije, we tell our history, our present, but at the same time

time and the power for the future which has its source precisely in women like mother Ferdonije", Albin Kurti, Prime Minister of Kosovo, March 8, 2023.

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Ontological security studies (OSS) argue that the individual’s need for ontological security is a continuous effort to reduce anxiety through routines, external recognition of community belonging, and the pursuit of autobiographical narratives (Krickel-Choi 2024, 5; see also Subotić 2016; Kinnvall and Mitzen 2020, 612). Although initially concerned with the individual, the focus of OSS has shifted to groups, societies, and states, which also seek predictability and stability through the evocation and adherence to narratives (Patterson and Monroe 1998, 321; Chernobrov 2016, 582; Delehanty and Steele 2009, 523–4; Edjus 2020). These narratives are often disseminated through the evocation of framed icons as their embodiment (Hansen 2015; Steele and Subotić 2024, 266).

Icons can take many forms, including individuals who are considered “to have great influence and significance, who reflect, alter, and/or reproduce identities of the political community” (Steele and Subotic 2024, 143; see also Hansen 2015, 267). There are many examples of human icons who are embedded in narratives as purported exemplars of virtue, heroism, and triumph (Scott and Tomaselli 2018, 17; Steele and Subotic 2024, 148–58). The focus of SSO is primarily on such narratives and the icons that come with them, which exalt bravery and glory and, as such, constitute comforting narratives in times of ontological uncertainty (Kinnvall 2004, 755; see also Chernobrov 2016, 581; LaCapra 2001, 81; Delehanty and Steele 2009, 524; Subotić 2016, 614).

The role played by icons that embody loss, or tragedy, including despair, defeat, suffering, and submission, has been less explored by SSO. However, the role of icons of defeat, or tragedy, in the construction of national narratives is recognized beyond SSO (Mock 2012, 27; Subotić 2016, 613).

However, to fully appreciate the role that icons play in constructing a society’s autobiographical narrative, one must understand how these icons, which become examples of tragedy or loss rather than of valor and glory, contribute to ontological narratives. This is the first aim of this article. By demonstrating this process, I contribute to what Brent Steele and Jelena Subotić describe as the “final axis of SSO,” which analyzes how ontological certainty is “generated, enacted, and performed,” and specifically how icons serve “a performative function for the fulfillment of society’s ontological certainty” (2024, 143).

The exaltation of an icon that evokes negative emotions, such as fear, regret, or sadness, will certainly not strengthen the sense of ontological security; such as the contribution of icons that are examples of tragedy, or loss, must involve a process by which the tragic fate itself acts as a trigger for emotions in the wider society – such as pride, resilience, solidarity, etc. – so that their fate exerts affective action by positively shaping collective narratives of ontological security (Chernobrov 2016, 593; Kinnvall and Mitzen 2020, 246; Kirke and Steele 2023, 910). To demonstrate this in practice, I analyze the case of the Kosovar woman, Ferdonije Qerkezi, an icon of despair who, in our view, is an example of this generative process.

Ferdonija is known for her despair, which manifests itself in daily mourning and maintaining the house exactly as it was on the day her husband and four children were abducted by Serbian police in 1999, whom she never saw again. Her despair is documented everywhere. Reflecting on her situation, Dritan Dragusha notes: “The longing for her husband and four sons is a longing that exceeds the limits of any imagination, while boredom slowly weaves a web of despair” (2019). She herself has said “my day is always gloomy” (IndeksOnline 2021). Despite her despair, her status as an icon in the Kosovo Albanian community, who refer to her as Nana Ferdonije, is well-known, and her suffering has managed to be repeatedly evoked by political leaders (Kabashi 2005; Hoti 2017, 18; Schwandner-Sievers and Klinkner 2019; Apolloni 2020, 103; Isufi and Henry 2023, 235). Although her despair is tragic for her, Ferdonija demonstrates how an icon of despair can engage in fulfilling a performative function in order to contribute positively to social narratives that provide ontological security.

Typically portrayed as something negative, despair manifests itself as inaction, a fixation on the past, and isolation from society (Fletcher 1999, 521; Lazarus 1999, 659; Mack 1999, iii; Pecchenino 2015; DeNora 2021, 1, 56). Even in the context of SSO, despair seems to be like that, unlikely to contribute anything positive to the construction of social narratives that restore or sustain ontological security. However, drawing on the literature on despair, which highlights the capacity to uncover hidden truths, we argue that the despair endured by icons like Ferdonija may play a role in the creation and dissemination of narratives that shape the ontological security of a society. Icons of despair – by virtue of their very echo of despair – can serve to alert society to a hidden social evil, or in metaphorical terms a wound (Holvikivi and Reeves 2020, 135) or scar (Steele 2012); their despair thus serves a positive communicative function, as it emphasizes the need to recognize and act on a threat to society that would otherwise remain hidden.

Ferdonija’s elevation to icon status and inclusion in an ontological narrative in the Kosovo Albanian community demonstrates how an icon of despair offers a path towards restoring ontological security. This process, through which the icon’s despair, once revealed, evokes various emotional responses in observers, aligns with the process identified within SSO, where, during ontological securitization, negative emotions that undermine ontological security can be transformed during the narrative formation phase (Subotić 2016, 611; Kinnvall and Mitzen 2020, 246; Kirke and Steele 2023, 910). To illustrate this, to demonstrate a core autobiographical narrative within the Kosovo Albanian community, Ferdonija's despair has been explicitly evoked by political leaders and other commentators to evoke three primary reactions in the wider community, namely: support for Kosovo's independence, national unity, and collective resistance.

In providing an overview of despair, we note that, while the overwhelming view is that despair is inherently negative, others emphasize its capacity to inspire some discoveries and actions. Despair, although a distressing state for the individual, can serve a positive communicative function by revealing truths and inciting change. I argue that it is precisely this communicative potential of the individual in despair that can be circumscribed within the context of SSO perspectives on the evolution and influence of narratives and their associated icons. I then examine the process by which ontological security narratives are generated and the role of icons in this process. I point out that narratives that provide ontological security are constructed on the basis of events that are considered to be examples of the narrative, but also that events that challenge or contradict a narrative can be included, provided that the negative emotions triggered by these events become generative catalysts for alternative emotions. In this way, icons that are examples of defeat, or tragedy, can be transformed into iconic exemplars of emotions, such as pride, resilience, and unity, that support dominant narratives. To illustrate this in practice, I will take the case of Ferdonija; first providing a glimpse of fate before demonstrating how her despair has been framed by political leaders and commentators in Kosovo to illustrate features that contribute positively to the autobiographical narrative of the Kosovo Albanian community.

Despair: “Unproductive and powerless”?

Academic analyses of hope tend to exalt it as positive; even within the critical literature, hope is presented as something that people should cultivate (McGeer 2004; Moellendorf 2006, 414; Mittleman 2009, 24; Martin 2016; Snyder 2021, 110; DeNora 2021, 1-2). Hope is valued for inspiring resilience and acting as a positive catalyst for pursuing achievable goals (Moellendorf 2006; DeNora 2021, 9, 414; Snyder 2021, 89). Thus, hope is variously described as “central to human agency” (Milona 2020, 111), “an extraordinarily dynamic force for social reform (Elliot 2020, 134), ...part of the methodology for changing the social landscape” (DeNora 2021, xi), and a spark that fuels “the effort for change” (Freire 2004, 8).

Those who extol the virtues of hope regularly present despair as its bleak alternative (Fletcher 1999, 521). Thus, despair is variously described as the “polar opposite” of hope (Mack 1999, iii); hope is the “opposite of despair” (DeNora 2021, 1); and despair is the “behavioral opposite” of hope (Pecchenino 2015, 56). In contrast to hope, despair is invariably framed as negative; as Jakob Huber notes, [despair] is scolded and rejected wherever it is mentioned (2023, 82). Despair has long been described in literature as a state of torment (Pecchenino 2015, 56-7), in Christian theology as “a sin...as the denial of a virtue, or as moral laxity” (Mack 1999, iv; see also Fletcher 1999, 523), and in political theory as a debilitating and unproductive tendency (Nesse 1999, 429).

As noted, future-oriented action is central to reflections on how hope can be a positive force; given that despair is regularly presented as the opposite of hope, it is not surprising that it is synonymous with self-destructive inaction, fixation on the past, or the present, and isolation from society (Lazarus 1999, 666). As Rowena Pecchenino notes, “Hope is transformative. Despair, the loss of hope, is destructive” (2015, 59; see also Lazarus 1999, 654; McGeer 2004, 113). Thus, despair is defined as unproductive and helpless, and is characterized by a focus on present miseries resulting from past failures, rather than progress in the future (Huber 2023, 81; see also Steinbock 2007, 449; Pecchenino 2015, 58).

The benefit of despair

Others believe that despair has some utility, particularly in the way it can reveal hidden truths. The most famous proponent of this view is the 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, whose views on despair were influenced by Christianity and his mission to discover how the individual can understand “his own soul and the power of God” (Kierkegaard 2004, 43). Kierkegaard argued: “to be able to despair is an infinite merit. And yet, to be actually in despair is not only the greatest misfortune and misery; no, it is ruin” (2004, 45). He reconciled this apparent contradiction by presenting despair as a condition that inevitably befalls all who fail to appreciate the power of God, but also as an essential condition that all must endure before fully understanding God (2004, 52–3). Only by becoming ill and falling into despair, after realizing that one is living a meaningless life without awareness of the true soul, can the power of God and the true self be discovered (2004, 68). Kierkegaard therefore described despair as desirable, not because it has an intrinsic value, indeed he rejected this, but because it can prompt a revelation that enables one to fully appreciate one’s own soul and the power of God (2004, 56).

Kierkegaard’s belief in the instrumental value of despair, that is, its ability to reveal hidden truths, is reflected in other treatises that affirm the usefulness of despair. Randolph Nesse argues that in modernity we suffer from the tyranny of widespread optimism (1999, 431). The constant celebration of hope and the pressure to adopt an optimistic disposition lead those in despair to be portrayed as suffering the consequences of personal rather than social or systemic failure. This widespread view of despair masks underlying social problems and, thus, “perpetuates deep illusions, illusions that, paradoxically, can cause dissatisfaction” (1999, 431). Thus, by punishing despair and exalting hope, to the extent that the former is either ignored or framed as unique to the despairing individual, society moves forward without correcting the flaws of the system. We should, instead, recognize despair sometimes as a product of social evils that need to be remedied so that society does not continue to function in that harmful way (1999, 432; see also Bennett 2015).

Huber also distinguishes between what he calls episodic and fundamental despair, the former being a transient tendency that can lead to positive change, and the latter a permanent state that prevents change (2023, 81). He argues that episodic despair occurs when a person realizes that a goal they have hoped for will not be achieved; it is thus beneficial because it allows the individual to accept the reality of the situation and change their goals and behavior accordingly, rather than to struggle under the illusion that they can achieve something. Episodic despair, he argues, “can help us hope (and ultimately act) appropriately” (2023, 81). Therefore, we must “give space to despair,” as this will enable us “to understand the full force of our predicament, so that a new and more authentic form of hope can arise” (2023, 90).

Gretchen L. Schmelzer similarly argues that in the context of post-conflict trauma, despair is healing; she states that “hope often prevents us from being able to see and digest the trauma that has occurred,” while despair enables one to “see the world as it is… [to] gain some clarity about what is wrong.” Ultimately, this recognition of personal and other despair enables healing and progressive change; “the ground that has been scorched by despair is prepared for the seeds of change, the seeds of growth” (Schmelzer 2023).

To be continued in the next issue of the Culture Supplement

Aidan Hehir is Professor of International Relations at the University of Westminster. His research focuses on transitional justice, humanitarian intervention and state-building in Kosovo. He is the author and editor of twelve academic books, including “Kosovo and the Internationals” (2024), and of many chapters and articles in various books and journals, and is a regular contributor to national and international television and radio. He is also the author of the novel “The Flowers of Srebrenica”, which was dramatised last year, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. It is published with the permission of the author.