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USING PUBLIC EVOCATIVE OBJECTS TO SUPPORT A MULTIETHNIC DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY IN KOSOVO (I) Friendly and Enemy Images The ethnic nationalist narratives of thought and feeling that are generated by evocative objects are powerful for all the peoples. They evoke friendly as well as enemy images depending upon whether the onlooker is an ethnic insider or outsider here is, as some philosophers will By Rory J. Conces respective places in the house or would tell you, an ideal form that a Department of Philosophy have been quickly removed following Tphilosophical work should take, and Religion some upsetting event. All this makes and that is for it to guide the reader down University of Nebraska at Omaha sense given that one's house is, more the road less traveled. Beginning with often than not, not just a place to inhab- the familiar and acceptable, it slowly my world. Catching a glimpse of the it or occupy (borrowing from leads its reader to the strange and unde- timer triggers in me a myriad of thoughts Heidegger), but a place to dwell, a place sirable. The pace is intentionally slow, and feelings about my grandfather and where one feels at home physically, slow so that the reader is lured to give the good times I had with him. The hold- emotionally, and spiritually. his or her assent to a set of propositions ing power of this object is strong for me So far the objects said to be evocative that few would question. Eventually the because of the intellectual and emotional have been those cognitively and cona- philosopher drops a bomb- nexus that it is a part tively informing objects found within an shell in the form of proposi- of and how this object individual's immediate home environ- tions that few would accept. came into my life. ment. Do they exist elsewhere, perhaps The hope is that this will Of course, other ordi- in settings that are more public? Do they force the reader to reflect on nary objects with form parts of cityscapes that inform only why the conclusion is so out- similar holding power members of a certain group, such as rageous. What is presented exist for me. There is Albanian or Serbian ethnic nationalist, here is just such a journey. a pen given to me by and only in ways that are unique to We surround ourselves with a friend in Bosnia and members of those groups? The answer is a variety of objects, things that often a tie that was undone from his neck and that they most certainly do. move when we push or kick them. Some handed to me by a colleague at the The preponderance of public objects in are useful in our everyday lives, but most University of Prishtina. There are many, Kosovo's cities that carry different are just ordinary. We neither think nor many more such objects. In fact, any nationalist ideas and passions leaves no feel anything special when we reach for ordinary or everyday object in my imme- doubt that evocative objects can be pub- the small red timer sitting on the kitchen diate surrounding could be an evocative licly displayed so as to inform particular counter next to the stove. The timer is object for me. And not just for me, but ethnic groups. That is not all, however. If simply an object embedded in a cooking for someone else or for some group of one were unsure about the segregated routine. We grasp, wind, and wait for the persons as well. It would depend on and minimally interactive nature of ring. Our concern is not with the timer whether these objects figure into their Kosovo society, strolling through some itself, but with cooking the musaka for intellectual and emotional nexus. of Kosovo's urban areas in search of the right length of time. The timer is just Moreover, if one was observant enough, objects that would likely be intellectual a tool. Of course, the timer may mal- one could gather clues about my numer- and emotional companions of Albanian function, in which case we would sud- ous identities, which would be helpful in or Serb nationalists would dispel any denly think of it as a broken timer, use- better understanding me. uncertainty. Some of the objects found less in our attempt to create a fine meal. in cityscapes are clear indicators of We may even become upset with the Publicly Displayed domains of ethnic dwelling. timer's momentary glitch. Yet it remains Take, for example, Prishtina. The flag that ordinary, an object lacking much signifi- The not so ordinary object is often an is most displayed by its residents is the cance for us. But could an ordinary evocative object as well. For some it is a double-headed eagle Albanian flag and not object, like a hand-cranked kitchen portrait of a spouse, a bouquet of flowers the blue flag of Kosovo. And whenever timer, make us think or feel in some from a lover, or a wedding ring. These there is a challenge to Kosovo's sovereign- peculiar way? Could a seemingly ordi- objects also make us have thoughts and ty and territorial integrity, you can be sure nary object be in some sense special or feelings about someone or something. that the Albanian flag will be displayed in evocative to us? Could it be an important No doubt, they are expected to do so. In mass, as was the case in the fall of 2008 part of our lives as thinking and feeling the case of the portrait, bouquet, and when the switch over from the transitional beings, connecting us to people, ideas, ring, the objects would likely evoke UN administration (UNMIK) to the events, and the like? The answer is that it friendly rather than enemy images and European Union Rule of Law Mission in most certainly could. pleasant rather than painful feelings. Kosovo (EULEX) was being negotiated For example, the fact that my grandfa- These objects could have evoked the between the UN, EU, and Belgrade, but not ther gave me a red kitchen timer as a gift negative, but in that case one would Prishtina. The throngs of people parading and that it holds my affections for him think that these objects either would through the streets, waving Albanian flags, does accord the timer a special place in have never made their way to their looked more like a scene from the streets of Bosnia Daily, January 4, 2011 10 Tirana than a city in Kosovo. little, if any, integration (thus, interac- MACEDONIA Or take the large Sports Complex in the tion) of the peoples, whereas the latter central part of the capital. On the end fac- does. Given this distinction, Kosovo is Faiths Unite ing downtown is an Albanian flag and plural monoethnic and not multiethnic. below it is a large photo of Adem Jashari, The ethnic nationalist narratives of against Same-Sex an architect of the Kosovo Liberation thought and feeling that are generated by Army (KLA), who was killed during the these evocative objects are powerful for Marriage unrest in 1998. He is dressed in full com- all the peoples. They evoke friendly as The heads of the five dominant religions bat regalia for all to see. And if that is not well as enemy images depending upon in Macedonia want the constitution changed to define marriage strictly as a enough, the international airport in the whether the onlooker is an ethnic insider union of one man and one woman and to capital has been named after him. or outsider. prevent same-sex couples and single par- The Albanians in Kosovo are not alone ents from adopting children. The heads of in their display of evocative objects that Unwilling To Look Inward the five faiths unanimously supported the anchor nationalist narratives. Although proposed changes to the constitution at a the presence of objects of Serbian On the one hand, the holding power of meeting this week in Skopje. Behind the nationalism are few and far between in the evocative objects linked to Albanian proposition stand the heads of the Mace- Prishtina (perhaps the unfinished nationalism is bound up with the events donian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Orthodox church at the university is the and circumstances surrounding the Religious Community, the Catholic most obvious), crossing the River Ibar to Albanian people's liberation from Church, the Methodist Church and the the Serb enclave in Mitrovica brings one Serbian oppression, such as the with- Jewish Community. to come face- to- face with a different set drawal of Serbian forces in June 1999 "No one should be afraid of traditional of evocative objects. and the declaration of independence in and correct views regarding marriage," There is no shortage of state and civil February 2007. The ever-present the head of the Macedonian Orthodox flags of Serbia. They can be seen hang- Albanian flag and the Jashari photo on Church, Archbishop Stefan, said. Koco ing from light poles and university build- Sports Complex stoke ethnic pride and Andonov, an activist from the Macedon- ings, as well as on a hilltop billboard. patriotism in many Kosovo Albanians. ian Helsinki Committee, said he opposed And it is not uncommon to find photos On the other hand, the holding power of the changes as an assault on the constitu- of such people as Slobodan Miloševiæ those objects associated with Serbian tional principles concerning equality and displayed in the business district. ethnic nationalism is tied to events such the secular character of the state. Visiting a downtown bakery can bring as the NATO bombing campaign of "They are imposing their own beliefs and you up close to a calendar photo of the March-June 1999 and the subsequent way of life onto others," Andonov told former president of Serbia.

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