Kosovo and the 'Xhaxhi' Syndrome
| 17 October 2008 | By Krenar Gashi in Pristina
The Red Hall of Pristina’s Youth Palace was too small to host all the fans of former Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha who gathered last Saturday to remember him at a conference entitled “Enver Hoxha for Kosovo.”
Watching the event was like a flashback to the communist era. Chimerical speeches full of wonderful words praising the Great Enver, accompanied by ‘evergreen’ songs about him. Slogans, metaphors, applause! The average communist would say “just perfect.”
The Red Hall never looked so red; the Albanian national anthem never triggered such emotion; the world never made more sense – to the people there. But only for them! Because those whose parents and grandparents were persecuted, those whose families were divided and terrorized by Enver Hoxha will never understand how the people in the Red Hall could gather to celebrate the dictator’s birthday.
The event might easily be viewed as an ordinary commemorative meeting on the margins of Kosovo’s society. But this is not the case. Enverism has been echoing through Kosovo since last Saturday. It has once again brought to the surface a favourite topic for some conspiracy theorists – the great contest of patriots versus traitors.
Again and again since the early sixties the two sides have traded insults in the never-ending battle to determine who is a patriot and who is a traitor.
The heated debate in the Kosovo media has spilled over this week into cafés and practically everywhere else – but the topic is inappropriate. Instead of arguing over whether Hoxha was good or bad, we should be asking ourselves why so many people are nostalgic for Hoxha, or indeed for other controversial figures from the past. Why do we still need idols? Why do we need to have leaders whose reputation we defend by all means? And why on earth would we choose Hoxha for this particular role?
Why do we still live with the ‘xhaxhi’ syndrome – in thrall to someone that we fear, or at least feared?
Xhaxhi (pronounced ‘ja-ji’) is an Albanian word which means ‘uncle’ in English, but a better translation is the Orwellian Big Brother.
Taking a peek at the calendar should be enough to make us understand that it’s time we brought the xhaxhi era to an end.
And the sooner, the better.
P.S. The only Big Brother my seven-year-old cousin needs is the reality TV show. I hope things will stay like that.
2008-10-17 15:42:39