Gjakmarrja
Encyclopedia
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
's social code known as Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit
Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit
The Kanun is a set of traditional Albanian laws. The Kanun was primarily oral and only in the 20th century was it published in writing...
or simply Kanun (The Code of Lekë Dukagjini), someone is allowed to kill another person to avenge an earlier murder or moral humiliation. Gjakmarrja (literally "blood-taking", i.e. "blood feud
Blood Feud
"Blood Feud" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 11, 1991. In the episode, Mr. Burns falls ill and desperately needs a blood transfusion. Homer discovers Bart has Burns' rare blood type and urges...
") or Hakmarrja ("revenge") refers to this practice.
According to some reports, there has been a revival of instances of Gjakmarrja, due to the lack of state control, since the collapse of communism
History of Albania
The history of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia , Macedonia , and Moesia Superior...
, in remote parts of Albania (mainly in the North of the country) and in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. The Albanian Helsinki Committee considers one reason for the pervasiveness of the blood feud to be the malfunction of the judicial structure.
Ismet Elezi, a professor of law in Tirana University, believes that in spite of the Kanun's endorsement for blood vengeance, there are strict rules on how this may be carried out, banning the revenge killings of women, children or elderly persons.
The Albanian writer Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare is an Albanian writer. He is known for his novels, although he was first noticed for his poetry collections. In the 1960s he focused on short stories until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army. In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral...
considers Gjakmarrja to be not an exclusive Albanian characteristic, but a historical one of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
as a whole The Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian film Abril Despedaçado
Behind the Sun (film)
Behind the Sun is a 2001 Brazilian film directed by Walter Salles, produced by Arthur Cohn, and starring Rodrigo Santoro...
based on Kadare's novel Broken April (Albanian: Prilli i Thyer) deals with the subject of an ancestral blood feud between two landowning families. The storyline has been transplanted from rural Albania to the Brazilian badlands in 1910.
External links
- Republic of Albania Country Report published by the Country Information & Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality DirectorateImmigration and Nationality DirectorateThe Immigration and Nationality Directorate was part of the Home Office, a department of the United Kingdom government. The headquarters were in Croydon, South London where it occupied thirteen buildings...
, Home Office, United Kingdom - "Albanians Turn Against Each Other, Associated Press, July 04 2000
- An Albanian refugee casework against the Australian Ministry for Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs
- A good summary of Albanian blood feuds for young people, ActNow, November 2005