Quote: ON ETHNIC LEGACY IN HIMARA
The situation we have today in Himara (and Dhermi) is the following: an almost completely bilingual community, Albanian and Greek. It is a community that has always thought of itself as something special, different, distinguished from the rest; a community that has been well aware of, and even fully accepted its isolation, by trying to turn it into a weapon for survival.
A political problem
Of the two languages and cultures, the Greek one seems to enjoy, currently, an indisputable prestige: these people live their "Albanian-ness" as a kind of regretful fatality, and their "Grecity" as an almost sacred project. If asked, they would admit they are Greek, because they feel Greek, and it is difficult to object to such an argument (for it hardly is an argument). And still, it is not possible to consider the matter as settled, and include Bregu in the area of the Greek minority in Albania, as most zealous Greek and Vorio-Epirote ideologues claim. The question is not as innocent as it might seem at a first glance; there are people, in Albania, who have to find, everyday, an answer to the following "trivial" questions: should the Albanian state give the Bregu inhabitants an official status of minority? Authorize Greek foundations to open and finance elementary and/or Greek high schools in Himara? Permit that liturgical services be routinely celebrated in Greek, as it seems to be the case? Help children be taught Greek in the churches, as Alibali remarks?
My point
The hellenisation of Himara doesn't have a clear beginning in time. Of course, to speak of hellenisation means to imply that the area was, at least in some remote past, not Greek but Albanian, and this is precisely what the supporters of Himara's Grecity would immediately deny. My point is, however, that much of the Greek culture, language, and identity that is found today in the area has been recently imported from Greece, by people trying to acquire a sharp, distinctive identity of their own. Their efforts to maintain this alleged Grecity even under the most severe cultural and linguistic oppression exerted by the communist regime cannot pass, however, as a proof of what their Greek-supporter ideologues claim.
What linguistics has to say
The Albanian dialect of Bregu, spoken in Himara as well, presents some quite archaic properties, which let one think that it has been there at least since the 3rd - 5th centuries A.D. (before the first contacts between Albanians and Slavs). On the other hand, it unsurprisingly is part of the dialectal continuum of "laberishte", i.e., is linguistically related to what was (and is) spoken in the immediate hinterland, which suggests an uninterrupted flow of Albanian-speaking elements from hinterland to Himara (and vice versa). Those centers that, mainly because of their different geography, do not present the same bilinguism and ethnic alienation (Vuno and Qeparo first of all, but also Pilur and Kudhes, to a certain degree), speak the very same sub-dialect of Laberishte. Of course, this might serve as an argument for those who claim that the Albanian in Himara is due to immigration from the Albanian-speaking hinterland, though it is difficult to maintain such a speculative position.
The folkloric evidence
Besides dialectology, the folkloric evidence as well speaks for quite definite ethnic-Albanian roots in the area: folk songs, and sung rituals (associated to weddings, death and burial ceremonies etc.) are clearly and typically Albanian: besides the text, their musical characteristics leave no room to doubt: theatrical polyphony (with different roles for different singers within the group), lack of musical or percussion instruments, pentatonic scales employed, etc. Musically, Himara goes with the rest of Laberia, and it is very hard to believe that Greek "autochtones" came to forget their own songs and traditions, abandon their musical instruments, and adopt a culture they have always looked upon as inferior. As a further argument for this might serve the simple fact that there are in Albania examples of Greek influence on folk culture, p.e. in the area of Permeti and, to a certain extent, in Myzeqe (tonalities, rhythms, and especially instruments employed).
If there is a language without a related folklore, one might be inclined to think of a sheer cultural assimilation having taken place, due to superiority and prestige, and also because of a need for acquiring a differential identity. As a matter of fact, Greek and Albanian in Himara seem to be two uncommunicating citadels, rather than two coexisting systems of communication. It is true that I have not heard of any serious, systemic research on the Greek dialect spoken in the area, but reliable experts have told me that it is very similar to the Greek dialect of Corfu, and this seems to be a quite reasonable observation, given the uninterrupted contacts and inter-relations between the two coasts. On the other hand, there is no evident proof for the Greek influencing, phonetically or grammatically, the Albanian sub-dialect of the area. Of course, there are a lot of Greek lexical loans, but this is understandable, and can be easily explained by centuries of contact, and commercial relations.
A history between empires
What does history have to say about this question? As an inhabited center, Himara is certainly very old, and, because of its geographical position, there is no doubt that Greek settlers have lived there since the early antiquity -- as they have in other shores throughout the Mediterranean. This cannot be used, however, as an argument for asserting Himara's modern Grecity, for we know the nature of these Greek settlements, the very essence of which lay in a symbiotic balance between sea-people (Greek) and land-people (non-Greek).
Then, in the early Middle Ages, the ethnic tableau in the Balkans grew somehow confused, and the Greek presence, though preserving its relevant connotations of authority, power, and prestige, got diluted in the multi-ethnic mass, tending to become symbolic. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, however, Himara appears as an Albanian, not Greek outpost. When Scanderbeg fights against the Turks, the Himariotes are by his side, to support him and his family; they even send armies to help. After Scanderbeg's death, they get involved in armed resurrections against the Ottoman rule, invoking the name, the memory, and the glory of the hero of Kruja. There is reason, and perhaps evidence, to believe that some of the Himariotes, to escape from the Ottoman plague, fled to southern Italy (Molise). Their alleged descendants, today, speak a form of Albanian, not Greek. On the other hand, some authors do not exclude a wave of refugees, from North Albania, to Himara, after the fall of Kruja. The hypothesis seems to be somehow confirmed by patronymic legends circulating in the area: according to these legends, the Bregu dwellers originate from Kruja, or Mirdita. Whether such an intra-Albanian immigration has really taken place in the past is highly questionable, in so far as linguistics and history have not been able to come forward with tangible proofs. It is true, on the other hand, that only few studies have been dedicated to the problem. Nevertheless, in spite of what might have happened with this hypothetical wave of Northerners, Himara has maintained its uninterrupted historical continuity.
It is well known that the Turk administration conceded them some kind of fiscal autonomy, as well as other extraordinary rights. In any case, Himara made a name in the Europe of the 16th-18th centuries, and certainly not as a simple Greek offshoot. It gave excellent soldiers to the so-called "Real-Macedonian" regiment serving the Kings of Naples. I personally have seen the files of these soldiers retrieved from archives in Naples; it is hard to tell if these men were Orthodox Greek or Orthodox Albanian (how would you classify, e.g., Spiro Milo?). Curiously enough, there are some Catholic Albanians among them too (with names like Zef, Pal, Pjeter, Gjoke, Gjin, etc.), though it is unclear whether these soldiers of fortune came directly from the Gheg territories, or rather from an (improbable) Catholic enclave in the Bregu area.
Painful definitions
So let us get back again to our initial question: to whom does Himara belong? Is it Albanian or Greek? There is no simple answer to this, apparently simple question. The idea of the State-Nation is an offspring of the Western European romanticism, who later spread into the East. Dozens of bloody wars have been fought so that some countries could claim that Sate and Nation, within their territories, perfectly coincided. Obviously, the notion of ethnic minority is a by-product of this political idea and/or doctrine of the State-Nation, which is in no way perfect, nor perfectly reasonable, but at least reflects, currently, a political reality.
From this standpoint, Himara represents a curious anachronism, as a present memory from epochs when the Balkan peninsula was part of multi-ethnic empires, and nationalities were more choices and necessities, and had to harshly compete with religion(s) as well. The Greek State, who was the first to challenge the Ottoman imperial rule with the romantic, nationalistic ideal of the nation, inherited from this imperial rule a very confuse notion about the relationship between nationality and religion. The old, medieval Ottoman distinction between "Turks" (Muslims) and "Infidels" (Christians), survived under the new shape of "Greek" (Orthodox) versus "Infidels (Muslims, quite often, Albanian Muslims).
On the other hand, the principle of contiguous territoriality cannot be applied to the Greek reality, especially as the past is concerned. The Greek civilization obviously expanded through the sea, and many a Greek scholar might be tempted to look for contiguity on the sea, and not on the land.
Centers and peripheries
There have been cities, in the Balkans, which are difficult to define from an ethnic standpoint: Ioannina, Sarajevo, Manastir, Voskopoja, Istanbul etc. Whom did they belong to? Of course, to no one in particular; like monads, these cities reflected the ethnic chaos in the Balkans, and every other definition risks to promote one's rights, by offending the other parts. Their modern assignment to this or that State is to be thought of as rather arbitrary, because these cities, who flourished under the Turk empire, were an essential part of the Balkans center, thus being multi-national by definition.
Himara is hardly a member of this group. Unlike them, Himara belong to the periphery of the peninsula, as a relic of an epoch that is even older than the Ottoman empire: Byzance, in spite of its Greek core, didn't assign any particular citizenship to those who lived under its rule. It was something more than a simple multi-national empire: it was a trans-national empire, which found its reasons for existing in the glorious (partly mythic) past. The Greek language and culture, used within the empire, were no signs of its national identity; they represented a necessary unifying myth. Therefore, the cultural structure of Himara still resembles a Byzantine model. People feel Greek, because there is no Byzance any more, not because they are Greek.
An explanation
Isolated, economically and culturally, from the rest of Albania, and too small to pretend creating a separate identity of their own, the Himara community found in Greece a kind of virtual ethnic authority. This authority sooner or later would turn into a source of reassuring identity. In a certain way, adopting Greek as a means of communication, and inventing the myth of their being Greek since the very origins, the Himariotes were looking forward to a social promotion. A community of gifted and energetic people, with few natural resources, but plenty of human ones, opened to the world because of the sea, but closed to it because of the mountains behind (and the mountains of Tirana's indifference), Himara was somehow doomed to perennially being on the edge between two cultural dimensions: the Greek sea and the Albanian land. By perceiving itself as an island, Himara could thus easily claim to be admitted into that infinite archipelago of the Greek world, in which getting together often means having to cover a certain distance by boat, and the only consolation for the melancholy of being an island, is the certainty of being touched by a friendly sea. This cultural module, adopted out of necessity, alienated Himara from the Albanian land long before its inhabitants became aware of their alleged "Grecity". People full of pride and dignity, conscious of a glorious past, and strong of a cultural identity, they would never resign to the fate to which Himara was abandoned, both by Zogu, and Enver Hoxha.
Responsibilities
Himara's deliberate choice to be part of a minority isn't due at all to religious motives, for the Albanian Orthodox church in the south is in good health, and, however, under no Muslim pressure or persecution. It is a choice dictated by great distress, and it should sound as an alarm bell to authorities in Tirana. If the Himariotes want to be Greek, no democratic state should virtually deny them the right to feel so, and deprive them of what they think they need in order to cultivate their cultural identity. If this recognition of their rights won't, and can't happen today, the reason for it is the Hellenic dream of hegemony in southern Albania, a region that some segments of Greek nationalism still consider as a dismembered part of their "glorious" nation. The Greek policy with their minorities, which has hardly been democratic and fair, is the real obstacle in the way of reaching a political understanding of the Himara issue. The truth is that all Albanian governments, in spite of their commitment to good will and respect for human rights, will be tempted to reciprocate, especially with this kind of minorities.
With this, I do not want to say that Himara's wish for Grecity is an immediate result of the well-known Hellenic cultural imperialism and wish for expansion. Having had a chance to know these people, and live among them for some time, I would say that their idea of ethnic identity is genuine, though the Greek myth staying behind this idea is totally false and misguiding.
| The author is Ardian Vebiu,a historian often quoted in this forum,and he is not exactly a nationalist Albanian.
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05-20-2008, 05:28 PM
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I didn't claim all the toponyms in these region as Greek but a big percentage of them.
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