Page 47 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

elements related to them. The hypothesis I make locally in terms of identification for the different
here is that the phase of border opening (deborder- groups living in the region.
ing), which is seen as the first consequence of this The present contribution reports the re-
new world of connections, is accompanied by a sults of a fieldwork that involved a total of two
renegotiation of boundaries between groups, of- months spent in the region. During this period,
ten relying on the reinterpretation of discourses I conducted 73 interviews, with most of them
on the past. For this reason, the Greco-Albanian being semi-structured due to the sensitive na-
border could be a referential case for the current ture of the questions. Out of these, 45 interviews
issues of identity and memory politics, and the were conducted impromptu, mostly in the villag-
related appropriations and re-alignments, pre- es of Sagiada, Kastri, Smerto, Asprokklisi, and
sented in contested border areas. more broadly in the region of Filiates and Igou-
menitsa in Greece, as well as in Konispol, Alba-
Methodology nia. The interviewees primarily included indi- 47
The text presented here is the result of a field-
viduals involved or interested in the preservation
ti work carried out in Greece on the western side of memory, local authorities, as well as ordinary
residents who were eager to share their perspec-
of this border, in the administrative region of
Thesprotia, north of the town of Igoumenit- tives on the historical transformations in their
ta tween Greece and Albania seemed to have best terviewees were survivors of World War II, serv-
region. Notably, a significant portion of the in-
sa, in 2010 and 2011. At that time, relations be-
ing as witnesses to the events during and after
improved. Although the end of the state of war
the war, which significantly influenced their per-
had only been partially signed between the
di two countries in 1987, their good relations had ceptions and reflections. The primary objective tales from the greek-albanian borderland ...
of the fieldwork was to identify the discourse
been confirmed a few years earlier by the sign-
ing in 1996 of a “Friendship, Cooperation, Good
surrounding memory and the dynamics of iden-
Neighbourliness and Security Agreement”. In
to changes in this border region.
this region, the appeasement manifested itself tity transformation and realignment in response
here (in Albanian), which facilitated contact between in Thesprotia
in 2004 with the opening of a new border cross-
Landscapes and Memories of Violence
ing point at Mavromati (in Greek) or Qaftë Botë
the two sides of the border. However, this region
The region described in this text surrounds the
remained a special case, the subject of a long-
lower valley of the river Kalama and its delta (see
Figure 1). Today, the population is concentrated
term geopolitical controversy surrounding the
presence in Greece of a large Albanian-speak-
ing community, which disappeared in the after-
mercial mandarin farming (such as Asprokklys-
studiauniversitatis
math of the Second World War in circumstanc- in large villages that make their living from com-
si and Sagiada), while the mountains that rise
es that are still debated. But, since that date, this further east, separating Thesprotia from the rest
region found itself back in the diplomatic spot- of Epirus, have largely been emptied by emigra-
light, as it became one of the main points of con- tion abroad. The settlement dynamics observed
tention between the two countries. This current in this region often refer to the period of the Sec-
situation leads to a renewed polarization of po- ond World War and the Greek Civil War, which
sitions that was not yet noticeable a decade ago, largely explain the current population distribu-
during my stay. The return to the situation of the tions and the formation of today’s human land-
2010s that I propose in this text is a way to pres- scapes. During this period, large-scale popu-
ent when it was most visible the modalities of the lation movements took place, leading to the
resumption of cross-border relations and the var- abandonment of many villages and the founding
ious challenges that this resumption presented of new ones. In detail, these situations are quite