The Curious Case of Albanian Nationalism: the Crooked Line from a Scattered Array of Clans to a Nation-State

Abstract

Albanian nationalism has been largely studied by overlooking the state of art of theoretical discussions on nationalism, focusing merely on chronological narratives which after a point tend to replicate themselves. This paper embraces the modernist theories of nationalism in order to explain the emergence of Albanian nationalism and its consolidation during the post-independence period under the auspices of Albanian nation-state. Thus it rethinks many of the conceptual understandings which underpin Albanian historiography and have acquired as such an orthodox status within popular culture. We argue that Albanian nationalism can be better understood within a broader structural framework which restricted and enabled the political elites to construct an Albanian nation. *