by Rafaela Prifti
MA Cultural Anthropology

The first striking fact about the story of Through Mirdita in Winter is that it originates from Harvard University and, the second, is that, chronologically, the release of the book and its translation span from the early years of Albanian American relations to the renewal period of the diplomatic ties between two countries. There is one more standout feature that makes the publication unique. In its core, the book is an ethnographic work written by Stavre Frasheri, guide and interpreter of American anthropologist, Professor Cartlon Coon, who conducted fieldwork in Northern Albania in 1929-1930.

Professor Coon’s work has been credited as “a worthy contribution to knowledge of the Albanian people in the area of anthropology and related fields.” (1) Neither the Albanian, nor the American had been in Mirdite prior to 1929 which means both were first-time visitors in the region, when they first set foot there. It was the Harvard graduate from the Greater Boston area who was the initiator of the expedition that produced three books: Permes Mirdites ne Dimer (Korce, 1930), The Mountains of Giants (1949) Through Mirdite in Winter (New York, 2022). In cultural anthropology, the story represents a case of
the observer versus the observed.

Stavre Frasheri was genuinely grateful to have been presented with the opportunity to go to “the land of valor, about which many foreignershad written”,  he writes in the Preface. Up until the arrival of Professor Coon of Harvard to do studies in anthropology in Northern
Albania, Frasheri, an instructor at the American Missionary School in Tirana, admits that he was one of the Albanians who had not visited other parts of Albania. So, they both go on a trip North. Both were impressed by the preservation of an old cultural and social system in
which “family and kin are the main social units” giving consideration to the interplay of cultural and environmental aspects of life in Mirdite. At the end of the expedition, one publishes a physical anthropology study, the other a travel account of the same research
expedition. For the purposes of the book, Frasheri singled out one particular area out of the region, namely Mirdite. While Coon wrote for science which implies academic impartiality, Frasheri’s stated intention was the accuracy of the foreigners account but also, to arouse the Albanians’ interest about “our Highlands” as the author puts it. Seen n tandem, these books form a long lasting affiliation that mirrors the Albanian American relations.

When, in the Fall, Winter and Spring of 1929-1930, Professor Coon, accompanied by his wife, visited Albania, it was with the stated intention of doing research with an interest in the main outline of the culture as a whole and only in those details that bear specifically on the question of “who are the Geghs and how did they acquire their present anatomical characteristics?’ It was not until 1950, however, that Coon’s book The Mountains of Giants; A Racial and Cultural Study of the North Albanians Mountains Geghs was published. During that expedition Stavre Frasheri, his guide and interpreter, kept meticulous notes of the trip. Shortly after the expedition, Frasheri’s account Through Miredite in Winter was published in Albania in 1930. His goal, he claimed, was to describe the highlands of
Albania as seen by an Albanian, and thus juxtapose his account to the narrative “by foreign visitors to our country.” Admittedly, Frasheri was fact-checking Carltoon Coon, in  the course of the expedition. As mentioned, in the Preface of Permes Mirdites ne Dimer, he writes that his primary concern was ‘accuracy of the foreigner’s accuracy.  Considering that in the case of Mirdite both authors are studying the same ethnographic territory, the Albanian account is a unique case, for when added to that of Coon, it provides us with two perspectives of the “same events” – one from a trained anthropologist doing fieldwork, and the other by an educated insider exploring a remote part of his own country for the first time.

By the 1930s Albanians had established communities in Western Europe and had crossed the Atlantic ocean, yet the land north of Shkumbin river was thought of as an area of “primitive” culture, poverty and outlawry. So, while accompanying Coon, Frasheri seized the chance to
observe and write about the Mirdite social organization, family life, gender roles, blood feuds, weddings, death rituals. Frasheri noted the names of villages and the routes with the same diligence and attention that he described the interior of residences where the team spent the night, the kulla – the typical square shaped tower built for defensive purposes. In attempting a portrait of the Mirdite people, Frasheri recorded the hardships and shortages the inhabitants had to face. He also recorded the names of hosts and the conversations that took place around the table. The material and economic scarcity however contrasted sharply with their untarnished appreciation of life in its fullest and generosity of spirit.

Their lives revolved around granting and receiving honor, hospitality, respect for one’s social status and rank and a deep veneration for clergy. Frasheri, nevertheless, is critical of the low status of women and of the ever-present tragedies resulting from blood-feuds. He goes as far as venturing his own ideas for the advancement of the Mirdite people.

In observing Professor Coon at work, Frasheri narrates the reactions of the locals as the host would ask the men in a locality to go and be measured. Indeed Coon was conducting fieldwork as the first American physical anthropologist to set foot in Albania with the intention of actually doing a study on the typology of the Albanian Highlander. Undoubtedly, Coon benefited from and added to the body of literature by British and Americans who had trekked to those mountains before him. The search for answers revolving around the earliest Dynarics (Dynarid) unearthed in Mesopotamia dating from the Bronx and Cooper Age brought Harvard graduates like Professor Coon to Mirdite. His
theory of typology, although controversial and outdated, considers the ecophenotypic variation as a function of life station, which led him to study the uncertain contributions of heredity and environment. In this regard, The Mountains of Giants provides a cultural context of the social and economic implications of the Gegh household, or the
economics of men’s clothing and equipment production. Here is how authors make their observations about smoking in a social context: Coon notes its immediate socializing nature as “a ready means of polite interaction for men give each other cigarettes…” while Frasheri records the actual event without offering an interpretation or scientific characterization.

The presentation of Greetings and Oaths is of particular interest. Any greeting however trivial entails more than a handshake and a quick polite exchange. As Frasheri explains, it involves a solemn touch on both temples, and a lengthy inquiry after one’s health, all done with a certain formality. One has to take time when greeting, as a matter that cannot be rushed, nor taken lightly without risking to antagonize the party being greeted. There is a “ritualistic stalling” quality to it, as if to show absence of ill-intentions on both sides. Exchanging health-related questions about family members and offering the right
salutations for each answer, assures time for holding at bay rushed decisions and dispelling any suspicions. When it comes to hospitality, Mirdita is without compare. He writes “the guest will find an open door everywhere in this region, where he is greeted with the words: “Welcome! God has brought you here!”

Coon who was President of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, set out to produce an anthropometric study of “the Mountain Geghs” as he described them, whereas Frasheri tried to capture that “special character” about Mirdite in his account Permes
Mirdites ne Dimer. That was in 1930, the first decade of the American Albanian diplomatic relations.

Thirty years later and more than seven thousand kilometers away, at an important Vatra event, two main protagonists meet in Boston and the story line moves to the next chapter. In the summer of 1960, Peter Prifti, was organizing a week-long seminar on Albanian Studies of the Pan-Albanian Federation of Vatra in his capacity as the Secretary of the Organization. One of the speakers he had invited to address the seminar along with Bishop Noli, Professor Thomas Nassi, and Arshi Pipa, was Professor Coon. He accepted the invitation and delighted the audience with personal stories with Albanians during the time of his 1929 expedition in Albania, remembers Peter. Years later, Professor Coon asked Mr. Prifti to translate Stavre Frasheri’s book and Peter agreed to do it. In 1979 the translation was completed and the manuscript was shelved in the repository of the Harvard’s University’s
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology for another twenty years. In 1999, within the first decade of the reestablishing of the American Albanian ties, the Manager of Publication at Peabody favored the publication of the English translation believing that it made more sense to publish the manuscript than to let it rest in the Peabody storage, writes Peter Prifti in the Acknowledgments of Through Mirdite in Winter. In 2002, the East European Monographs published the work making it available to all English readers.

With the support of scholars, editors and consultants along the way, an American anthropologist, an Albanian interpreter/guide, and a former Vatra Secretary, contributed to make possible a publication that is not only available in two languages, Albanian and English, but one that has a narrative of its own.

Stavre Frasheri’s book would likely not have been written had Professor Coon not traveled for research to Mirdite. Yet it was Frasheri who tasked himself with writing down and keeping records of personal observations and inquiries alongside Professor Coon’s fieldwork. In the process, the Albanian interpreter and guide “discovered’ and enhanced his own understanding of the Northern region of his country. A self-styled ethnographer, Frasheri has possibly pioneered in the active participant field of the modern era. Thanks to the author’s commitment and drive as a cultural explorer, the book, broadly defined, is an ethnographic account of Mirdite in the late 20s. Also, by taking the assignment a step further, Stavre Frasheri’s work serves as a reminder to value any task as an opportunity for a potential exploring of our own.

1- Through Mirdite in Winter, Stavre Th. Frasheri, Translated into
English from the Original in Albanian by Peter R. Prifti, East
European Monographs, Boulder Distributed by Columbia University Press,
New York, 2002

Rafaela Prifti/

The answers may be as personal and as diverse as individual’s own experiences, backgrounds, purpose and pathways of enhancing cultural awareness. I put the question to Mr. Faton Limani, the Administrator at the Harvard Department of Comparative Literature. He and his colleague Eva Stathi-Misho, a Harvard Student Coordinator, have a central role in the program’s launching. Mr. Limani says that the idea of introducing an Albanian class has been brewing for a while now. On the part of the Albanian Students Association (ASA), what “started with a question of why Albanian is not offered at Harvard,” says Arba Shkreli, a rising junior at Harvard College, generated the efforts that resulted with the Department of Comparative Literature responding favorably to offering it as an Elective this Fall.

“Part of setting up a new program is finding a tenure track faculty who will supervise the course,” Mr. Limani explains. The Elective class starts in September 2022 at three levels, elementary, intermediate and advanced, as previously posted https://gazetadielli.com/albanian-language-elective-course-at-harvard-university/ Whether the Department hires one or more instructors, it likely depends on the level of interest that translates into enrollment numbers for the upcoming semester. To my question about attracting non-Harvard students or availability to a wider community, Mr. Limani clarifies that “BA students from colleges and institutions affiliated with Harvard such as Tufts, MIT would be able to sign for it through “cross registration”. The advantage of offering the language class at the prestigious international education hub, says the Harvard administrator, is the magnitude of exposure it receives at the oldest US institution of higher learning with a vast student body from all corners of the world.

Learning a language other than English is regarded as “an essential component of a liberal art and sciences education”, according to the website of the Harvard College, Office of Undergraduate Education. Historically, Liberal Art colleges have deep-rooted and time-honored language requirement originating from the mandatory study of Greek and Latin. In his response to my question for comment, Professor David Damrosch, underscores the belief that the point of studying a language is to be able to enjoy the literature in that language.    

“We are happy for our department to provide a location for the Albanian language course, as it didn’t find a good home otherwise within the university’s departmental structure. In our department we’ve had a number of students in recent years working in Balkan literature, and we are pleased to be able to offer Albanian. I am personally an admirer of Ismail Kadare’s novels and essays, and I hope that this course will give more students an opportunity to pursue an interest in Albanian language and literature,” writes Professor and Chair of Ernest Bernbaum and Director of Institute for World Literature at Harvard University, David Damrosch.

As to what could come of the program down the road, Mr. Limani says “There are aspirations to have an Albanian Studies Program to include History, Literature and Language.”

For Arba Shkreli, who is starting her Junior year at Harvard College studying Electrical Engineering, the Elective course of Albanian will gain momentum moving forward. At first, she remembers hearing about it circulating as more of an idea or goal, but now that “it is official”, Shkreli says that she will “be engaged with its promotion” and “believes in its success”. She recognizes the persistence of fellow undergraduates at the Albanian Student Association (ASA), who initially were asking about Albanian not being part of or included in the program at the Department of Slavic Languages, on account of the geographic criteria that is generally applied in the context of South East Europe peoples and cultures. Arba Shkreli is aware that promoting the program through students means engaging with people who never took Albanian, or feel that it is beyond their scope of interest. There is certainly an abundance of language courses available at the preeminent university. A quick internet search shows that Harvard curriculum offered about 80 languages in 2013. Speaking from personal experience, and believing in the power of numbers, the future engineer strongly advises high school graduates of Albanian American decent to apply to Harvard. She encourages them to “seriously do it” without being intimidated or demoralized by the name of the private Ivy League University. During our phone conversation, her enthusiasm and quick thinking are notable as is her sharpness. In response to Dielli’s question about considerations that would be relevant for non-Albanians to choose the Elective in the fall semester 2022, Shkreli’s answer is: “coming to Harvard implies that you are here to know things others do not. So, while there is a perfectly valid argument to study Spanish, French etc, you would be broadening your horizon immeasurably by studying Albanian. It is a big deal to take Albanian!”

There is no doubt that Dielli, the oldest circulating Albanian American newspaper is partial on the topic. In its first manifesto, Dielli’s cultural mission centered around promoting, honoring and cultivating Albanian in the United States, as an essential part of our cultural identity and nationality. The teaching of Albanian at institutions of higher learning is not only “a big deal”, it is also a proud legacy that arches back over a hundred years. Nelo Drizari, Editor of Dielli from 1937-1939, was the first Albanian graduate of Columbia School of Journalism in New York. He returned to the Ivy League school as a lecturer in Albanian which he himself introduced as part of the language program at Columbia University. His accomplishments include the launching of the Albanian Language Service at Voice of America and publication of dictionaries such as the Albanian English and English Albanian Dictionary published in 1957 with a forward by Faik Konica, an icon of Albanian culture, history as well as a co-founder of Dielli and Vatra.

To be sure there is a multitude of connections between the Pan-Albanian Federation of America Vatra, Dielli and Harvard. In a nod to the 110^th year of Vatra’s founding anniversary that was celebrated on June 12 in New York, the year 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of Fan Noli’s and Faik Konica’s graduations from Harvard University, with a B.A. in History and an M.A. in Romance Languages, respectively.

For some, language knowledge means community connections, for others the pursuit of being acquainted with great Albanian writers, and in general it could be a pathway toward discoveries old and new, any one of which deserves exploring.

To start the journey, click at the link of class schedule provided by Mr. Limani https://complit.fas.harvard.edu/pages/courses

Finally, the elective course marks a new chapter for the teaching of Albanian at Harvard and the US college system in general.Appropriate for beginnings is a phrase or a word hardly in need of translation: “Me fat!” “Suksese!” – GOOD LUCK!