Figura e armikut: ripërfytyrimi i marrëdhënieve shqiptaro-serbe

Abstract

The volume contains a selection of articles written during the international project “Figuring Out the Enemy: Re-imagining Serbian-Albanian Relations” (2014-2016). Containing 13 reviewed articles previously published in Serbian or Albanian, this is one of the first joint research initiatives, involving twenty eight scholars and intellectuals solely from Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, putting forward critically oriented initiatives and alternatives to current hostilities. The project’s mission was to engage scholars from national communities at stake instead of bringing them from aside, and to provide environment for discussion and mutual understanding. The project created a base for lasting cooperation and a strong network of scholars, intellectuals, but also cultural institutions from Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. The edited volume “Figuring Out the Enemy: Re-imagining Serbian-Albanian Relations” challenges Serbian-Albanian hostility by reinvestigating events and discourses from the past as well as more recent times. It seeks to identify and elaborate common views, ideas and traditions that undermine the present enmity and promote cooperation. These articles therefore offer an alternative to the dominant discourse of hostility and centennial ethnic hatred between the two nations. It also aims to bridge the existent gap in comparative research on Serbian-Albanian issues that has resulted in a serious lack of joint research projects, cooperation and other cultural activities.