Retrospektive, letnik IX, številka 1

Banal Nationalism and the (In)visibility of Borders: The Case of Albania and Greece

Kriton Kuci

DOI 10.64651/retrospektive.2026.9.1.3 📋

Prejeto: 15. oktobra 2025 | Sprejeto: 21. aprila 2026 | Objavljeno: 15. junija 2026

Banal Nationalism and the (In)visibility of Borders: The Case of Albania and Greece [ PDF ] Odpri PDF Banal Nationalism and the (In)visibility of Borders: The Case of Albania and Greece [ PDF ] Prenesi PDF Retrospektive_IXx1-03_Kuci_NationalismBordersAlbaniaGreece

Povzetek članka

Članek preučuje, kako je spor o pomorski meji med Albanijo in Grčijo uokvirjen skozi nacionalistične narative in medijski diskurz, kar razkriva vztrajnost banalnega nacionalizma v sodobni jugovzhodni Evropi. Čeprav gre formalno za pravno in diplomatsko vprašanje, je spor postal simbolično bojišče za artikulacijo suverenosti, narodnega dostojanstva in zgodovinske pravičnosti. Opirajoč se na teorije banalnega nacionalizma, simbolnih meja in kulturnega nacionalizma, članek zagovarja tezo, da je spor vgrajen v vsakodnevne diskurzivne prakse, ki vzdržujejo nacionalne imaginarije in perpetuirajo simbolne meje nacionalne države. S primerjalno analizo medijskega in političnega diskurza v obeh državah članek pokaže, kako pomorska meja ne deluje zgolj kot prizorišče geopolitičnih pogajanj, temveč kot prostor, v katerem se narod vsakodnevno zamišlja, uprizarja in brani.


Viri in literatura

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On line Newspapers and news portals

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Kontakti avtorjev

Kornelija Ajlec, dr.
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of History

Kenan Çayır, dr.
İstanbul Bilgi University, Department of Sociology

Zvezdana Kovač
European Fund for the Balkans

Kriton Kuci, dr.
Department of Political Science and International Relations Faculty of Law and Humanities, Mediterranean University of Albania

Angelos Palikidis
Professor of History Didactics
Department of Humanities, School of Humanities, Democritus University of Thrace

Srđan Radović, dr.
Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Božo Repe, dr.
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of History

Vassiliki Sakka, dr.
Association for History Education in Greece


Abstract (Izvleček članka v angleščini)

This paper explores how the maritime border dispute between Albania and Greece is framed through nationalist narratives and media discourse, revealing the persistence of banal nationalism in contemporary Southeast Europe. While formally a legal and diplomatic issue, the dispute has become a symbolic battleground for the articulation of sovereignty, national dignity, and historical justice. Drawing on theories of banal nationalism, symbolic borders, and cultural nationalism , the paper argues that the dispute is embedded in everyday discursive practices that sustain national imaginaries and perpetuate the symbolic boundaries of the nation-state. Through a comparative analysis of media and political discourse in both countries, the paper demonstrates how the maritime border functions not only as a site of geopolitical negotiation, but as a space where the nation is routinely imagined, performed, and defended.

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