Papers by Gilles de Rapper
J. Godole, I. Idrizi (eds.). Between Apathy and Nostalgia. Private and Public Recollections of Communism in Contemporary Albania. Tirana, IDMC, 103-119, 2019
The Stockmann-Sokoli expedition of summer 1957 resulted in the collection of photographs taken be... more The Stockmann-Sokoli expedition of summer 1957 resulted in the collection of photographs taken before and during the ethnomusicologistsʼ trip in Southern Albania by Wilfried Fiedler, the linguist of the team. This set of several hundred photographs in colour and black-and-white is a valuable testimony of the kind of images of communist Albania that were emerging at that time. In this chapter, I take as a pretext the photographic collection of Wilfried Fiedler, in its content and in its conditions of production, to analyse the situation of Albanian photography in 1957. For this, I begin by presenting the collection and its context, i.e. Albania and its relations with the Communist world before 1961. I then turn to the situation of contemporary Albanian photography to highlight the specificities of Wilfried Fiedler’s photographs and dwell on a determining criterion: colour. I conclude with considerations on photography and modernity.
Je voudrais exposer dans cet article la manière dont la photographie de famille est devenue pour ... more Je voudrais exposer dans cet article la manière dont la photographie de famille est devenue pour moi, tardivement, un objet de recherche et comment elle a contribué à infléchir mon travail sur la société albanaise. Je voudrais aussi revenir sur les questions posées par le projet de recherche La photographie de famille en Méditerranée, de l'intime au politique, et situer les articles qui composent ce dossier par rapport à l'état de la recherche sur ce thème. De cette façon, l'objectif de cet article est de contribuer à la constitution méthodologique et théorique de la photographie de famille comme objet de recherche. Malgré un intérêt continu mais constamment marginal pour la photographie de famille dans les sciences sociales depuis les années 1960, on peut en effet faire le constat de l'absence d'une approche unifiée qui permettrait de l'aborder dans sa diversité (dans le temps et dans l'espace) et sous ses différents aspects. Il semble donc nécessaire de débrouiller les multiples questions de recherche posées à partir de la photographie de famille et de réfléchir aux dimensions comparative et interdisciplinaire qu'elle implique.
Between 1944 and 1990, several countries of the Mediterranean have experienced political and econ... more Between 1944 and 1990, several countries of the Mediterranean have experienced political and economic systems based on the Soviet model in which the notions of "public service" and "common good" were central. This is the case in Albania. This chapter focuses on the implementation of the concept of "public service" in communist Albania, and it relies on the observation of a specific area of activity, photography. In 1946, cooperative photographic studios are created in large cities to establish a public service competing with private photographers. The latter disappear in the early 1960s, and a few years later, cooperatives are themselves transformed into state-owned enterprises whose mission is explicitly described as "public service" (shërbim publik). Starting from a photographic corpus considered in terms of production and use, we intend to trace the history of public service photography in Albania, from its beginnings to its transformation in the post-communist period. In doing so, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of a state known as "totalitarian" and of the place occupied by the notion of "public service", while situating the Communist experience in the Mediterranean area.
Ethnologie française, 2017
The socialist period in Albania was a time when photography became popular all over the country. ... more The socialist period in Albania was a time when photography became popular all over the country. Beyond the usual association of photography from socialist countries with ‘propaganda’, photography presents a variety of aspects and a wide range of uses. Amateur photography appears as a relevant category to address the complexity of this production. Our aim in this article is to give an overview of the conditions in which amateur photography was practised and to highlight the ways in which it differed from professional photography.
La période communiste a vu la diffusion massive de la photographie en Albanie. Au delà de l’étiquette de « propagande » généralement associée à cette pratique dans les pays communistes, la photographie de cette époque est variée et témoigne d’une pluralité d’usages et de modalités. La pratique amateur apparaît comme une catégorie pertinente pour aborder la complexité de la production. Nous tentons ici d’en reconstituer les conditions et de montrer ses particularités par rapport à la pratique professionnelle.
Ethnologie française, 2016
Cet article se propose de brosser le portrait de la photographe personnelle d'Enver Hoxha en mett... more Cet article se propose de brosser le portrait de la photographe personnelle d'Enver Hoxha en mettant en évidence sa position unique et ambiguë, sur la frontière du public et du privé, au sein de l'organisation totalitaire de la production photographique. Cette unicité et cette ambiguïté peuvent être vues comme à l'origine de sa perception, par elle-même et par les autres, en tant que « figure d'exception », ce qui permet de poser la question du statut de l'exceptionnel dans l'Albanie communiste.
This article is an attempt to draw the portrait of Enver Hoxha’s personal photographer as standing in a unique and ambiguous position – on the boundary between the public and the private – within the totalitarian organisation of photographic production. I consider uniqueness and ambiguity as a breeding ground for her recognition as a “figure d’exception”, by herself and by others. This leads me to question the status of the exceptional in Socialist Albania.
Ce texte est une interrogation sur le statut ambigu de la photographie de famille, entre producti... more Ce texte est une interrogation sur le statut ambigu de la photographie de famille, entre production publique et usage privé, dans le contexte d’un régime politique que l’on peut qualifier de totalitaire. Cette position a-t-elle une incidence sur les images produites ? Que deviennent ces apparitions publiques lorsqu’elles rejoignent l’album de famille et lorsque, éventuellement, elles en ressortent ? Dans un premier temps, je présente la photographie de famille comme le produit d’une organisation privilégiant le collectif sur l’individuel et subordonnant les histoires familiales aux valeurs et aux destins collectifs. Dans un deuxième temps, je montre qu’elle est simultanément le lieu d’une représentation de soi.
Fotografi të panumërta janë prodhuar gjatë periudhës komuniste në Shqipëri. Shumë prej tyre ishin... more Fotografi të panumërta janë prodhuar gjatë periudhës komuniste në Shqipëri. Shumë prej tyre ishin planifikuar për të krijuar arkiva dhe për të ruajtur kujtimin e vendeve, të njerëzve dhe kohës, në të cilën dhe me të cilën u krijua lloji i ri i shoqërisë që donin autoritetet. Detyra e fotografëve në të vërtetë ishte regjistrimi dhe dokumentimi i transformimeve të vendit ose, sipas fjalëve të kohës, "ndërtimi i socializmit". Ajo [detyra e tyre] ishte gjithashtu, për disa prej tyre, ofrimi i të gjitha mundësive për të krijuar kujtime fotografike. Sidoqoftë, mund të supozojmë se ndjesia e të jetuarit në një kohë transformimesh të thella, në të cilat vendet dhe stilet e lashta u zhdukën në favor të formave më "moderne", i dhanë një rëndësi të veçantë fotografisë. Si një proces teknik i lidhur me industrializimin, fotografia ka një marrëdhënie domethënëse me modernizimin. Ajo gjithashtu ka vetinë të fiksojë momente të veçanta (në shqip, si në gjuhët e tjera, folja fiksoj përdoret shpesh për aktivitetin e fotografëve), serializimi i të cilave jep një ide, një "dëshmi" të kohës që kalon dhe, në këtë rast, progresit të bërë. Pranëvënia në faqet e revistave të epokës komuniste të dy imazheve me titullin "para" dhe "pas" ose "dje" dhe "sot" është veçanërisht e shpeshtë për të shënuar si ndryshimin, ashtu edhe orientimin e saj.
Ethnologie française, 2017
Ethnologie française, 2017
In: Ariane Eissen & Véronique Gély (eds.), Lectures d'Ismail Kadaré. Nanterre: Presses universita... more In: Ariane Eissen & Véronique Gély (eds.), Lectures d'Ismail Kadaré. Nanterre: Presses universitaires de Paris Ouest, 43-70.
Published in Gangloff, S. (dir.), La perception de l'héritage ottoman dans les Balkans. Paris, L'... more Published in Gangloff, S. (dir.), La perception de l'héritage ottoman dans les Balkans. Paris, L'Harmattan, p. 197-214.
Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 2009
In the last ten years, many books and articles dedicated to Pelasgians have been published in Alb... more In the last ten years, many books and articles dedicated to Pelasgians have been published in Albania, mostly by amateur historians and linguists. These works question the official discourse on the Illyrian origin of Albanians inherited from the socialist era. They also question the relationship of Albanians with Greeks, both in ancient times and in the present. Considering the fact that a significant number of those authors originate from southern Albania and that their books are widely read and appreciated in this Albanian borderland, this article argues that the recent success of Pelasgic theories can be partially explained by the new uses of the border in the post-1991 context and by the state of relations between Albanians and Greeks as experienced at the local level. Imagining the Pelasgians as prestigious ancestors appears as an answer to feelings of inequality and marginality related to new practices of the border.
Depuis les années 1990, on assiste en Albanie à l'émergence d'un discours sur les origines nation... more Depuis les années 1990, on assiste en Albanie à l'émergence d'un discours sur les origines nationales qui se veut en rupture avec les thèses officielles en vigueur pendant la période communiste (1944-1991). Dans son contenu, ce discours, que nous proposons d'appeler « néo-pélasgisme », est très proche des mythologies nationales élaborées dans les Balkans et ailleurs depuis au moins le xix e siècle. Il consiste en une recherche des ancêtres, une affirmation de l'ancienneté et de l'autochtonie de la nation et en la mise en place d'un récit qui donne un sens à l'histoire nationale depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Paradoxalement pourtant, ce discours apparaît au sein d'un État-nation déjà constitué (depuis 1913) et ne vise pas, comme au xix e siècle, la création d'un nouvel État. On peut cependant montrer que si l'État n'est pas remis en cause, ce discours sur les origines constitue simultanément un discours sur ses frontières (qu'il tend à repousser) et s'articule étroitement aux pratiques contemporaines de la frontière. Dans cet article, nous montrerons dans quelle mesure ce discours s'accompagne aussi de tentatives de patrimonialisation de quelques objets, lieux et éléments de la culture immatérielle en relation avec la frontière.
This paper addresses the issue of religion in post-communist Albania. It is based on ethnographic... more This paper addresses the issue of religion in post-communist Albania. It is based on ethnographic material collected in the southeastern district of Devoll in the mid-90s. Through an analysis of the role of religion within local society it attempts to question the common assumption that religion in Albania 'does not matter', without, on the other hand, claiming that there is ground for religious conflict or fundamentalism. In this paper, I analyse the relations between Muslims (who are in majority in this district) and Orthodox Christians by looking at local ideas about 'culture'. This category, which should be understood as 'civilisation' or 'education', appears as a way to classify people and religious communities: Christians are generally granted more 'culture' than Muslims. The aim of this paper is to understand the meaning of such statements about the level of 'culture' of Muslims and Christians and to explain the use of the category of 'culture' in relation to the present state of Muslim/Christian relations.
in Dionigi Albera, Maria Couroucli. 2012. Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean. Bloomington... more in Dionigi Albera, Maria Couroucli. 2012. Sharing Sacred Spaces in the Mediterranean. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, pp. 29-50.
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Papers by Gilles de Rapper
La période communiste a vu la diffusion massive de la photographie en Albanie. Au delà de l’étiquette de « propagande » généralement associée à cette pratique dans les pays communistes, la photographie de cette époque est variée et témoigne d’une pluralité d’usages et de modalités. La pratique amateur apparaît comme une catégorie pertinente pour aborder la complexité de la production. Nous tentons ici d’en reconstituer les conditions et de montrer ses particularités par rapport à la pratique professionnelle.
This article is an attempt to draw the portrait of Enver Hoxha’s personal photographer as standing in a unique and ambiguous position – on the boundary between the public and the private – within the totalitarian organisation of photographic production. I consider uniqueness and ambiguity as a breeding ground for her recognition as a “figure d’exception”, by herself and by others. This leads me to question the status of the exceptional in Socialist Albania.