From Myth of Ethnogenesis to Expression of Oppression: An Albanian Trajectory of The Walled-Up Woman Song’s Interpretations

• In Event: Tales, Narratives, and Myths between Oppression and Liberation: The Case of the Walled-Up Woman in the Balkans and Beyond

Abstract

The aim of this paper is stated clearly in the title: it offers a systematic analysis of interpretations of the walled-up woman by Albanian scholars, writers and, generally speaking, men and women of letters. This analysis follows the trajectory of the ways these interpretations evolved in time starting from the early ones in the first half of the 20th century to the most recent ones in the early decades of the 21st century. Preliminary research has revealed that this trajectory extends from making the song about the immurement of a woman a component of the myth of national ethnogenesis to seeing the song as an expression of oppression against the woman, but also against the community.

Author

• Rigels Halili, U of Warsaw (Poland)