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

the owner of his house and he will do whatever he will think to be appropriate for him, his
wife and children. Whenever Vasilis and Urania’s daughters come to Albania, they visit their
parents. Before their daughters got married, Vasilis and Urania considered them as part of
ikoyenia/familje , but now they are considered as belonging to their husband’s
ikoyenia/familje (see Figure 4), together with their children. In theory the children of
Vangjelis and children of Vangjeli’s sisters are not allowed to marry as they are considered to
be first cousins and one ikoyenia/familje. In practice this rule extends down to the second,
rarely to the third cousin, which means that it includes the children of Vangjelis and his
sister’s children.
Figure 4: Shifting families. The underlined words are the referent names of Vasilis. The words in italics are the
referent names of i nifi. .
The given examples illustrate how the meaning of ikoyenia/familje can shift. Vasilis on the
one hand considers his son Vangjelis, his daughter in-law and grandchildren, who are living
in Greece for several years as independent ikoyenia/familje. On the other hand, when he
discusses the property and heritage of the house he built together with Vangjelis, he defines
them as being part of his ikoyenia/familje. According to Vasilis statements, belonging to same
ikoyenia/familje is on the one hand defined by locations of one’s residence and by shared
property on the other.
In contrast to his uncle, Ksenofon lives in the village for all of his life. Together with his wife
they live in a new house, located next to his old house, where his mother (mitera/mana) lives
alone. Ksenofon’s son lives in the guest house on the coastal part of the village. Although
87