The Albanian National Movement in Transnational Context: Rilindje's Political Thought in Exile (1878-1912)

In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Albanian League of Prizren, Albanian nationalists, facing an inadequate environment at home, had to transfer their political activities abroad. In the process, they established themselves in locations as far apart from each other as Constantinople from London, Brussels from Alexandria or Athens from Boston, giving this way to the movement a global character. The networks that they established made possible the circulation, transfer, and reception of ideas in and from a multiplicity of national, political, and cultural contexts into the Albanian national discourse. Thus, Rilindje, gives us the opportunity to interpret it as a dialogue, since exile, as a form of displacement invites us to observe: how the culture moved firstly between the diaspora and the cultures encountered in the host countries; secondly on the relations that were established between Albania and the diasporic community; and finally, the impact of such dialogues on the national identity and culture of both the emigres and their interlocutors.