Ulrike Janssen:
"Under Construction" - Literature in Kosovo
At the beginning of 2008, the former Serbian province of Kosovo declared itself an autonomous republic and since then has been listed on every world agenda. However, on Europe's cultural landscape this region is unchartered territory. The literature of this small country, which is largely inhabited by Albanians, is virtually unknown in Germany. At the same time, in the relative freedom of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo Albanians had access to world literature and were able to develop an independent literary scene.
When the repression intensified, poetry especially was used as a vehicle for intellectual resistance. The war at the end of the 1990s, also in a literary respect, signified a break. What topics occupy writers in Kosovo today? How do they experience the cultural life of Pristina, the capital of the youngest European state?
In Pristina, Ulrike Janssen met authors such as Beqë Cufaj, Eqrem Basha, Mehmet Kraja, and Jeton Neziraj. They took a trip through the literary scene of a country that in many ways is still "under construction," and whose atmosphere follows the feature with voices and texts, noises, sounds, and rap music.
SWR 2 Wissen
Broadcast on 3/26/2009, 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Editorial staff: Anja Brockert
At the beginning of 2008, the former Serbian province of Kosovo declared itself an autonomous republic and since then has been listed on every world agenda. However, on Europe's cultural landscape this region is unchartered territory. The literature of this small country, which is largely inhabited by Albanians, is virtually unknown in Germany. At the same time, in the relative freedom of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo Albanians had access to world literature and were able to develop an independent literary scene.
When the repression intensified, poetry especially was used as a vehicle for intellectual resistance. The war at the end of the 1990s, also in a literary respect, signified a break. What topics occupy writers in Kosovo today? How do they experience the cultural life of Pristina, the capital of the youngest European state?
In Pristina, Ulrike Janssen met authors such as Beqë Cufaj, Eqrem Basha, Mehmet Kraja, and Jeton Neziraj. They took a trip through the literary scene of a country that in many ways is still "under construction," and whose atmosphere follows the feature with voices and texts, noises, sounds, and rap music.
SWR 2 Wissen
Broadcast on 3/26/2009, 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Editorial staff: Anja Brockert
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