Is Albanian in ? Revalorisation of a minority language in the diasporic art scene in London. 

Leonita Galica Catot, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle

Why do young second generation diasporans born and raised in London continue to practice and care about Albanian - so much so that they make art in and about it?  And for what audience? In this presentation, I argue that the appeal for a minority language like Albanian in diasporic contexts is neither the sign of agentive resistance against assimilation or the endeavour to preserve a so-called « heritage » but the result of late capitalism’s appreciation of diversity in urban contexts, particularly London. 

Through a multi-sited ethnography (Marcus, 1995) led alongside a diasporic network of Albanian friends and artists living in London, I analyse the circulation of their art from the production of photo, video and textual projects in Kosovo and Albania to their release and reception in London. 

More than an object of nostalgia associated with a past homeland, Albanian becomes appealing, cool and marketable for a London audience through the artistic productions and the events surrounding them. I argue that while Albanian is a minority language with no/ little  institutional support in the UK, it obtains a special status in the creative milieu in London. I understand Albanian as an institution which captures affects and directs them in sometimes contradictory orientations, what Spinoza calls fluctuatio animi: nostalgia and longing on the one hand and appeal and desire and the other thus emphasizing the importance of temporality as it draws on the past and the future. This fluctuatio also characterises the reception of the art which can either function well and get positive recognition or be considered cliché and over the top as was the case for a recent exhibition leading a participant to wonder “who is it for?”. Rather than a question of authenticity and representation, it appears as a question of affective address: who is affected by the works in Albanian and through which mechanisms? This suggests that the affective work of the Albanian language in these artistic practices is not about communicating something to a preexisting audience. Rather, it is constitutive of the diasporic creative scene itself, understood as an institutional arrangement. This leads me to redefine the diaspora not as a coherent community sharing an identity but as a group sharing affects leading to collective practices. 

This argument aims at redirecting the discussions on migrant languages from notions of identity, heritage and creativity to understanding the value these languages have in neoliberal identity politics. Rather than analysing minority language practice as (un)successful resistance against institutions, we understand that it is itself the result of institutional arrangements. 

Bio: Leonita Galica Catot is a PhD student in linguistic anthropology at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. She is working on the maintenance of Albanian in London through diasporic friendship networks. Her research explores the value of minority languages in migratory and urban contexts.