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SEEU Review vol. 5 Nr. 2 (pdf) - South East European University

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<strong>SEEU</strong> <strong>Review</strong> Volume 5, No. 2, 2009<br />

The Idea of Europe among Albanian<br />

Intellectuals in 1920s and 1930s<br />

Enis Sulstarova<br />

Department of Sociology<br />

Faculty of Social Sciences<br />

<strong>University</strong> of Tirana, Albania<br />

E-mail: sulstarova@yahoo.com<br />

Abstract<br />

The scope of this article is to investigate the ways Europe/Occident was<br />

both perceived and used by the intellectual elite in Albania during the<br />

processes of nation-building in 1920s-1930s. This historical period was a<br />

crucial one in terms of modernization efforts of Albanian society.<br />

Undertaking the building of a modern, literate and secular society, the<br />

political and intellectual elites in Albania looked to Europe/Occident for<br />

suitable guidelines and models of nation-building and also for legitimization<br />

and acceptance in the “civilized world”. Therefore, in this paper attention<br />

will be paid to the public debates and the use of concept of Europe/Occident<br />

by intellectuals, who advanced different views about the direction that the<br />

modernization of Albania should follow.<br />

Key words: Albania, idea of Europe, intellectuals, Orientalism, interwar<br />

years.<br />

Abstrakt<br />

Artikulli shqyrton perceptimin e Evropës/Perëndimit nga elita<br />

intelektuale shqiptare në vitet 20-30. Kjo periudhë historike ishte shumë e<br />

rëndësishme për sa i përket përpjekjeve modernizuese në shoqërinë dhe<br />

shtetin shqiptar. Duke synuar ndërtimin e një shoqërie të zhvilluar, moderne<br />

dhe laike, elitat politike dhe intelektuale të atyre viteve kërkonin nga<br />

Evropa/Oksidenti modele për komb-formimin si edhe legjitimitet dhe pranim<br />

35

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