2011 Theses Bachelor's

Empire of Nations: The Consolidation of Albanian and Turkish National Identities in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1878-1913

Licursi, Emiddio Pietro

"I intend to utilize the intellectual output of Albanian and Turkish figures throughout this period to demonstrate the manner in which this process, and its various contingencies, affected their worldviews. Particularly, I rely on works from Pashko Vasa, Faïk Konitza, Sami Frashëri (Şemseddin Sami), Yusuf Akçura, and Ismail Kemal to elucidate this process of transformation. I argue that these intellectual works provide crucial insight as to the manner in which Albanians interpreted the events that occurred between 1878 and 1913. Additionally, I claim that these intellectual sources embody a resolution of the meta-historical transformations that occurred during this time, the proliferation of nationalism throughout the Balkans and the Empire’s effort to “modernize,” and the contingencies that directly effected the Albanian population."