Modernism: Representations of National Culture

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Modernism – Representations of National Culture Volume Three/2 D i s c o u r s e s o f C C o o l l l l e e c c t t i i v v e e I I d d e e n n t t i i t t y y i n C e n t r a l a n d S o u t h e a s t E u r o p e ( 1 7 7 0 1 9 4 5 ) The time has passed, when nationalism was closely connected to Romanticism. The nationalism of today values reality. It is a live expression of sociology as a science, a field for the implementation of social hygiene, a laboratory to discover psychological and social diseases. This scientific research used for discovering the sources of evil presents itself as the only positive value. The main obligation for the Youth (that Youth, which, enlightened by the light of reason, feels without any hesitation a deep respect for the historical fate of our Fatherland, and already treads the path of development and of the future) in the eyes of Neo-Albanianism is the following: the processes of research and definition should be based on a scientific framework, but also on a philosophical and clear body of national ideals. An intellectual is aware of the greatest and most terrible danger: if he wishes to start a journey in the infinite and chaotic sphere of his own fantasy, he will be in danger of falling into error and self-disappointment. This sphere contains only fake worlds and dead values, which bring only sleepiness and “genial utopias.” Science is illumination. This is the world of reality. We shall not define our political life through romanticism and fantasy. The problems of life and the mysteries of the future need that illumination. We should turn our eyes towards life, which means to see life as it is, not as we want it to be. Life needs a solution. We cannot find this solution in a national fantasy, because it is hidden deeper in the national spirit. This is our starting point: to shed light on the deep causes of the social anarchy we have inherited from the past, we should hold on to the torch of sociological science. And this is our reference point: to build the Albania of tomorrow, enlightened and civilized , on the ruins of yesterday’s Albania—an Albania that is not stuck in history, but civilized. Branko Merxhani, 1930 Cover design by Péter Tóth Edited by Ahmet Ersoy, Maciej Górny and Vangelis Kechriotis Texts and Commentaries D i s c o u r s e s o f C C o o l l l l e e c c t t i i v v e e I I d d e e n n t t i i t t y y i n C e n t r a l a n d S o u t h e a s t E u r o p e ( 1 7 7 0 - 1 9 4 5 ) Modernism – Representations of National Culture Volume Three/2 This is the second part of the third volume of the four-volume series, a daring project of CEU Press, presenting the most important texts that triggered and shaped the processes of nation-building in the many countries of Central and Southeast Europe. Fifty-two texts illustrate the evolution of modernism in the region. Essays, articles, poems, or excerpts from longer works offer new opportunities of possible comparisons of the respective national cultures. The volume focuses on the literary and scientific attempts at squaring the circle of individual and collective identities. Often outspokenly critical of the romantic episteme , these texts reflect a more sophisticated and critical stance than in the preceding periods. At the same time, rather than representing a complete rupture, they often continue and confirm the romantic identity narratives, albeit with “other means.” The volume also presents the ways national minorities sought to legitimize their existence with reference to their cultural and institutional peculiarity. “The primary source collection Discourses of Collective Identity in Central and Southeast Europe provides a long-awaited alternative to conventional narratives of the region’s history. If read in tandem with the background offered for each piece, the texts point to the multiple places, events, and ideas connecting individuals in the region to others within and beyond it and...