By Fleur Overbeek
Identity is something that concerns everyone, but at the same time, it is a complex and abstract concept. Just think about your personal answer to the question: ‘What is your identity?’ This is probably not an easy question to answer for anyone. And I could imagine that it might be even more complex for people living in a country that only declared its independence in 2008, is home to many ethnic groups, and is not being recognized by everyone.
Identity seems like something fundamental. And meanwhile, I was wondering if it is actually something important and if it really exists. Or is it something made up to create boxes and could this be the source of trouble? In the case of Kosovo, it is even more complicated because of the many ethnic groups within Kosovo. I wondered how people in Kosovo identify. Do they identify as Kosovar, or rather by their ethnic roots? Is the Kosovar identity the product of a political game? Does it even exist? And does it even matter? I had so many questions about this, so I wanted to create something that would give me, and others, the tools to understand more about these issues.
One of the main reasons we went to Kosovo is to try to understand--to understand Kosovo, the people, and to discover the Kosovar identity--if that even exists. And we went to listen...and not to judge. My group and I decided that we wanted to work on something creative that would amplify the voices of people from Kosovo, and show people what Kosovo is and what being Kosovar means. For our project, we chose to make a short film including scenery of Kosovo and interviews with people living in Kosovo. We chose this format because we believe it is accessible to many people, and it allows the people from Kosovo to speak themselves, instead of us, being outsiders, reinterpreting their stories.
We definitely encountered some challenges in the process of this project. First of all, because of the time constraint, it was difficult to get a fair representation of the population of Kosovo. In our film, we managed to include people of different ages and Albanian and Serbian backgrounds. However, we did not interview people from other minority groups. Therefore, our film is only able to capture a glimpse of perspectives on the Kosovar identity. Also, after every interview we conducted in Kosovo, we changed our interview questions because we wanted the stories of the people to guide us. We believed this would give us the most authentic stories and answers.
What this short film demonstrates is that politics can have a major influence on the individual lives of citizens. People told us how politicians try to shape their identities and create segregation within society. They feel like they are part of a political game. However, identity is something extremely personal. Everyone we talked to had a slightly different view of the Kosovar identity. Some believed this identity is important and it is crucial to have a shared Kosovar identity, regardless of your ethnic background.
On the other hand, others told us that they don’t believe there is a Kosovar identity and that this concept is imposed on them by politicians. And the feeling of a Kosovar identity even differed among ages. When we asked people if they felt Kosovar, we noticed a major difference in the answers of younger and older people. We spoke to a 15-year-old and three 18-year-olds and they all identified themselves as Kosovar. One 18-year-old even told us that he gets upset when people identify as Albanian instead of Kosovar. Also, they were very proud of the country and were positive about the Kosovar flag. However, all the other people who were above 21 years old did not identify as Kosovar, and they said they could not imagine identifying as Kosovar in their lifetime. This difference between ages was interesting to see. And what was even more interesting to me was that this difference is not between generations, but it occurs among people who are only a few years apart.
As I mentioned, I started this project with a lot of questions about the Kosovar identity. And maybe we did not answer them with this project. Maybe it only raised even more questions. But I believe that this is valuable as well. And maybe there is a Kosovar identity, maybe there isn’t. Maybe it doesn’t even matter at all. But it is worth thinking about.
Two months ago, when I told people we were going to Kosovo, people reacted confused. Most people did not know if Kosovo is a country, or a city, where Kosovo is, and some had actually never even heard of Kosovo at all. And this corresponds with the stories that people in Kosovo told us about how they feel invisible and forgotten. They are a young population of almost 2 million people, with stories, feelings, and talents. And yet, people do not know who they are. They are not being heard.
I hope that after watching our film*, you will have a better idea of what Kosovo is, and that you gain a glimpse of the people who are living there. I hope you listen to the voices of people from Kosovo, telling you about their struggles, their hopes, their identities, and all the things they love about Kosovo. And I hope this film will evoke something in you that makes you think. This could be about identity, but also about political games, power distribution, or anything else. I hope you will be able to listen to these people without any judgment. Contrasting stories can exist together. There is not one simple truth that is the only truth. It’s all about perspectives.
*The link to the film will be added here soon. Please check back.
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