Monastir Congress

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The participants in the Congress of Monastir

The Congress of Monastir ( Albanian  Kongresi i Manastirit ) was a meeting of Albanian writers and patriotic intellectuals from November 14th to 22nd, 1908. At the meeting that took place in Bitola (Albanian / Turkish Manastir / Manastır ), the participants agreed on a meeting uniform alphabet for the written Albanian language . Since then, a strict phonetic notation has been used with only two special characters. These regulations are still valid today, and the Monastir Congress is therefore seen as the birth of a modern, uniform Albanian orthography .

backgrounds

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Albanians were the only people in south-eastern Europe who still lived completely under Ottoman rule and did not have a nation-state of their own . A relatively small group of patriotically-minded intellectuals and writers had been trying for a generation to establish an independent Albanian written language and literature . By 1900 a large number of mainly poetic works had been written, the first newspapers appeared in Albanian, and the first school books and grammars were available.

The cultural Albanian movement of that time, called Rilindja (to German rebirth) in Albanian historiography , was hampered by the fragmentation and isolation of its not very numerous supporters. The Albanians were denominationally divided into Muslims , Catholics and Orthodox . Their settlement area was spread over several Ottoman administrative districts ( Vilâyets ). Albania did not have a nationally significant cultural center. In the north, Shkodra was especially important for the Catholics, along with Prizren in Kosovo . In the center of the country Elbasan was a center for Muslims, in the south it was Korça for the Orthodox and Bitola, which is now part of North Macedonia . Many of the Albanian writers did not live in the traditional Albanian settlement area, but in the Ottoman capital Istanbul or in emigration. The most important diaspora community existed in Bucharest . Albanian was not permitted anywhere as a school and administrative language and the Ottoman authorities have temporarily banned the printing of Albanian books.

One spoke and wrote in the two main dialects, Tuskish and Gegisch, and even used different alphabets. Although the tendency has been towards Latin script for some time - before that the Muslims had also written in Arabic script and the Orthodox with Greek letters - at the beginning of the 20th century there were still two relevant versions, the “Bashkimi alphabet” from Shkodra and the "Stamboller Alphabet", which was mainly used in Istanbul and southern Albania. Around 1900 the efforts among the Albanian patriots increased to work towards a cultural union that should ultimately pave the way for political unity.

The Congress

In its first phase (1907/1908), the Young Turk movement also brought more freedom to the national minorities in the Ottoman Empire. In this situation, representatives from all important Albanian cities and from the diaspora agreed to meet in Bitola to clarify the question of the uniform spelling. Last but not least, this was an important prerequisite for the introduction of Albanian-language teaching, which the government was hoping for at the time. There were numerous agreements between the individual groups in the run-up to the congress.

The 150 delegates - representatives of cultural associations and the churches, newspaper editors, writers, teachers from private schools, etc. a. m. - came from all over the Albanian settlement area, from Istanbul and Bucharest, from Egypt , Italy and even the United States . The host was an association of wealthy Muslim merchants in Bitola. Istanbul-based journalist Mithat Frashëri was elected to head the congress . Immediately the delegates decided that from now on only the Latin script should be used. In a second step, they agreed on the strict phonetic notation. The slightly revised Bashkimi alphabet (named after the cultural association of Shkodra) was preferred. Since then, Albanian has been written using the 26 letters of the Latin script and two special characters. A number of digraphs are used to represent some sounds .

Museum of the Albanian Alphabet

Former building of the Hotel Iliria in Bitola, where the Congress took place and which now houses the museum

In December 2010, the Museum of the Albanian Alphabet ( Macedonian Музеј на албанската азбука ) was established in the building where the Congress took place . In January 2011 the museum received support from the Ministry of Culture. Discussions broke out over this, as the entry in the national register and the design of the new logo should only be in Macedonian: The museums of Macedonia belonged to all different ethnic groups and therefore had to be designated in the national language. In addition, the responsible authorities said that Albanians made up less than 20 percent of Bitola's population. This irony is due to the fact that the Albanian language is still lacking equality in Macedonia.

In November 2012, the museum's permanent exhibition opened in the newly renovated building.

literature

  • Shaban Demiraj & Kristaq Prifti: Kongresi i Manastirit. Tirana 2004. ISBN 99943-614-5-7
  • A. Buda (Ed.): Alfabeti i gjuhes Shqipe dhe Kongresi i Manastirit (14-22 nëntor 1908). Studies, materials, documents. Tirana 1972

Web links

Commons : Congress of Monastir  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerd-Dieter Nehring: Entry on the Albanian language in the Encyclopedia of the European East. (PDF; 382 kB) In: Encyclopedia of the European East , University of Klagenfurt . 2002, accessed June 10, 2012 .
  2. ^ Website of the Archdiocese of Shkodra-Pult. Retrieved June 10, 2012 (Albanian).
  3. ^ Website of the Apostolic Administration Prizren. Retrieved June 10, 2012 (Albanian).
  4. ↑ Robert Elsie : Islam and the Dervish Sects of Albania - Notes on their history, distribution and the current situation. (PDF) In: "Kakanien revisited". May 27, 2004, accessed June 10, 2012 (PDF file, 155 KB).
  5. ↑ The Albanian Orthodox Dioceses. In: Website of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012 ; Retrieved June 10, 2012 (Albanian).
  6. ↑ A do të mbijetojë Muzeu i Alfabetit Shqip në Manastir. In: Koha. January 31, 2012, accessed March 12, 2013 (Albanian).
  7. ↑ Ќе се дотерува Музејот на албанската азбука во Битола. In: Утрински весник (Utrinski Wesnik). May 8, 2012, archived from the original on April 13, 2013 ; Retrieved March 12, 2013 (Macedonian).
  8. ↑ Alfabeti shqip me vulë maqedonisht . In: shqipmedia.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015 ; Retrieved January 4, 2011 (Albanian).
  9. ↑ Alfabeti Shqip me vulë maqedonisht. In: Telegrafi. January 4, 2011, archived from the original on December 15, 2015 ; Retrieved March 12, 2013 (Albanian).
  10. ↑ Manastiri - Jerusalemi i shqiptarëve. In: Iliria News Agency. November 22, 2012, archived from the original on November 27, 2012 ; Retrieved March 12, 2013 (Albanian).
  11. ↑ Xhaferi: Shtëpia e Alfabetit, "Jerusalemi" i shqiptarëve. In: albeu. November 22, 2012, Retrieved March 12, 2013 (Albanian).
  12. ↑ Нова музејска поставка во Музејот на албанската азбука во Битола. In: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia. November 22, 2012, Retrieved March 12, 2013 (Macedonian).