university of nova gorica graduate school contested spaces and ...

in economical and social sense, while places “in Albania” are week, uncivilized and poor. The
village stands in between, and it is in this regard ambiguous, similarly to its position in
Frosina’s story. Pavlos attempts to break down this ambiguity and to pin down the
“whereness” of the village by relating it with Italy and Greece, with civilization and richness.
In doing so his narrative differentiates and separates the village from Albania. This
conceptualization stands in contrast to later periods, when during the communism the
“whereness” of the village was no longer constructed through overseas connections, due to
restrictions of movements inside the country and over its borders.
Figure 10: Paths and places from the story of Pavlos, born in 1938.
Agathula’s biography is much richer considering the number of places included in her
itinerary, through which she moved during her lifetime. She locates the village according to
her grandfather’s trading relations with Corfu and Venice and her uncle’s immigration to
United States between two World Wars. All these places are located “outside” (okso) and
understood as a connection to civilization and wealth. When describing the poverty which
prevailed after the World War II, during communism, she situates the “whereness” of
Dhërmi/Drimades according to its relation to Elbasan in the central Albania, where she
performed her practical work during her studies. She again ascribes meaning to “whereness”
in accord with spatial hierarchy, relating “outside” places with economical and social power
and places in Albania with weakness. The “whereness” of the village is again placed in the
middle, between wealth and poverty.
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