Tirana Modern: Biblio-Ethnography on the Margins of Europe

187 Pages·2022·3.598 MB·English

by  Matthew Rosen

T I R A N A

:
M O D E R N

BiBlio‑Ethnography

ON THE MARGINS

OF EUROPE

M AT T H E W R O S E N

“ . . . a pioneering contribution to literary ethnography, literary
history, and the role of literature in contemporary Albania.”
nataša gregorič bon
Tirana Modern

Tirana Modern
Biblio-Ethnography on
the Margins of Europe

Matthew Rosen

VandeRbilt UniVeRsity PRess
Nashville, Tennessee
Copyright 2022 Vanderbilt University Press
All rights reserved
First printing 2022

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rosen, Matthew, 1977 author.
Title: Tirana modern : biblio-ethnography on the margins of Europe /
Matthew Rosen.
Description: Nashville : Vanderbilt University Press, 2022. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022002740 (print) | LCCN 2022002741 (ebook) | ISBN
9780826504814 (paperback) | ISBN 9780826504821 (hardcover) | ISBN
9780826504838 (epub) | ISBN 9780826504845 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Albanians—Books and reading. | Tirana (Albania)—Social
conditions. | Tirana (Albania)—History. | Literature and
society—Albania. | Literature and anthropology—Albania. |
Books—Albania—History. | Albania—Social conditions. |
Albania—History. | Albania—Social life and customs.
Classification: LCC DR997.3 .R67 2022 (print) | LCC DR997.3 (ebook) | DDC
028/.9094965—dc23/eng/20220210
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022002740
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022002741
For the book readers
In Tirana and beyond

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction. Writing the Relationship between Books and People 1
1. One Hundred Years of Transformation 24
2. Miracles of the Street 35
3. In the Public Interest 56
4. Reading Nearby 75
5. Between Conflicting Systems 96
6. Conclusion. A Good Time to Read 114
Appendix. Pika pa sipërfaqe’s Catalogue of Publications,
November 2009–November 2021 125
Notes 137
References 147
Index 163

Illustrations
Figure 0.1 Exterior of the bookshop E për 7 shme 7
Figure 0.2 Issue of the journal E për7shme 8
Figure 0.3 Ataol Kaso and Arlind Novi in Tirana around 2012 9
Figure 0.4 Book cover for Thertorja pesë, published in 2009 13
Figure 1.1 View of public life near the historical center of
Tirana in summer 2019 27
Figure 1.2 View of public life near the historical center of
Tirana in summer 2021 27
Figure 2.1 A visual fieldnote Mihal’s bookstall 38
Figure 2.2 Abundant, visible, and asking for explanation 40
Figure 2.3 Indicators International aid and the domestic product 42
Figure 2.4 Index of things Saturday morning market 44
Figure 2.5 Index of places Biblio urban landscape 45
Figure 2.6 Index of persons Hektor Metani, bookseller 47
Figure 4.1 Tirana quixotic Electric box street art 93
Figure 5.1 The activity of publishing at a community book fair in Tirana 107

ix