City of the 'calm': vernacular mobility and genealogies of urbanity in a southeast European borderland

By combining a genealogical and ethnographic approach, this paper aims to explore temporal and mobility-related dimensions of the moral 'self-essentialization' in the north Albanian city of Shkodra. The image of the Shkodrani as 'calm people' - prominent in narratives, urban myth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of southeast European and Black Sea studies 2015-07, Vol.15 (3), p.391-408
Main Author: Tosic, Jelena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
borderland
emic notions of belonging
Ethnicity
Ethnography
Families & family life
Genealogy
late-Ottoman
Marine
Migration
Mobility
Moral economy
Morality
Mythology
Narratives
Religion
Southeast Europe
temporality
urbanity
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Summary:By combining a genealogical and ethnographic approach, this paper aims to explore temporal and mobility-related dimensions of the moral 'self-essentialization' in the north Albanian city of Shkodra. The image of the Shkodrani as 'calm people' - prominent in narratives, urban myths, life-stories, family histories or interpretations of everyday interactions - served both as an explanation of the 'inherent' peacefulness and inclusiveness of the inhabitants of Shkodra and as a marker of 'urbanity'. Intrigued precisely by its a-historical 'aura', I will suggest that a very fruitful way of analytically disentangling 'calmness' is to view it through the temporal prism of the prevailing mode of migrant incorporation in Shkodra - not according to ethnicity or religion, but rather along lines of what I will refer to as 'vernacular mobility'.
ISSN:1468-3857
1743-9639
DOI:10.1080/14683857.2015.1091182