<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The aim of the paper is to explore the discourse strategies of the Party of Labor of Albania to eliminate its enemies in the early years of establishing communism in the country. The contention is that PLA and its leaders made possible the elimination of thousands of people by normalizing the process. The enemies of the party were declared enemies of the people and as such, they had to disappear in one way or another, so that the integrity of the body politics could be preserved. The class enemy was considered a parasite that should be eliminated in the name of social prophylaxis. By using discourse analyses the paper will investigate the discursive strategies followed by the communist party and its leader when addressing the class enemy. Speeches of Enver Hoxha in Party Congresses, Plenums, and gatherings with people will be analyzed. Only by normalizing the process of elimination of everyone who was depicted as an enemy, did the communist party make possible the elimination of thousands of people. Normalization is understood as the standardization of the procedure so that everyone knew in advance what would happen if someone had to be declared an enemy of the people. The paper will analyze the vocabulary used to portray the class enemy and his/her destiny in specific cases. The study has analyzed the speeches given to justify the elimination of Patër Anton Harapi, Lef Nosi, Maliq Bej Bushat, dom Lazër Shantoja, dom Ndre Zadeja, and the sabotage group of the Maliqi swamp. The analysis covers the period immediately after the end of the IIWW when communists seized the power.</p>
</abstract>

The aim of the paper is to explore the discourse strategies of the Party of Labor of Albania to eliminate its enemies in the early years of establishing communism in the country. The contention is that PLA and its leaders made possible the elimination of thousands of people by normalizing the process. The enemies of the party were declared enemies of the people and as such, they had to disappear in one way or another, so that the integrity of the body politics could be preserved. The class enemy was considered a parasite that should be eliminated in the name of social prophylaxis. By using discourse analyses the paper will investigate the discursive strategies followed by the communist party and its leader when addressing the class enemy. Speeches of Enver Hoxha in Party Congresses, Plenums, and gatherings with people will be analyzed. Only by normalizing the process of elimination of everyone who was depicted as an enemy, did the communist party make possible the elimination of thousands of people. Normalization is understood as the standardization of the procedure so that everyone knew in advance what would happen if someone had to be declared an enemy of the people. The paper will analyze the vocabulary used to portray the class enemy and his/her destiny in specific cases. The study has analyzed the speeches given to justify the elimination of Patër Anton Harapi, Lef Nosi, Maliq Bej Bushat, dom Lazër Shantoja, dom Ndre Zadeja, and the sabotage group of the Maliqi swamp. The analysis covers the period immediately after the end of the IIWW when communists seized the power.

A Discourse Analysis of Strategies Pursued by the Party of Labor of Albania to Eliminate its Enemies in the Early Years of Communism in Albania

SEEU Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The aim of the paper is to explore the discourse strategies of the Party of Labor of Albania to eliminate its enemies in the early years of establishing...

A Discourse Analysis of Strategies Pursued by the Party of Labor of Albania to Eliminate its Enemies in the Early Years of Communism in Albania

Published Online: Dec 30, 2022

Page range: 19 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/seeur-2022-0015

Keywords
communism, people enemy, sacrifice, the past, the future

© 2022 Alban Reli et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

A Discourse Analysis of Strategies Pursued by the Party of Labor of Albania to Eliminate its Enemies in the Early Years of Communism in Albania

Published Online: Dec 30, 2022

Page range: 19 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/seeur-2022-0015

Keywordscommunism, people enemy, sacrifice, the past, the future

© 2022 Alban Reli et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
communism, people enemy, sacrifice, the past, the future