Revista de Ştiinţe Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques • No.

37-38 • 2013

ORIGINAL PAPER

Ali PAJAZITI

Über Mazedonische: Challenging Multicultural Spirit via

Culture

Ali PAJAZITI
South Eastern European University,
Tetovo, Macedonia
E-mail: a.pajaziti@seeu.edu.mk

Abstract: The present study highlights the challenging multicultural spirit culture in the Republic of Macedoni.
This paper is based on a multidimensional study that enables scientific interpretation and elaboration of
phenomenon of "divided society in progress" through analysis of two cases when tradition (carnival) and sport
(handball) were used not as cohesive but fragmentation tool.

Key words: tradition, tribal neo-paganism, the anti-sport spirit, cultural intolerance, Macedonia, divided society.

1. Introduction
Societies are similar to live beings, they try to save themselves against the antibodies that
provoke them and hurts in different ways. Republic of Macedonia, as whole Balkan is very fragile
area, transitional country with internal and external unsolved issues, with authentic homo balkanicus
in actum. Non-stabile economy, turbulent societal-political relations, ethnical dichotomy, name issue
(with Greece), are the some of the items of permanent crisological agenda of this country with
antique image but with virulent post-modern problems. After the Ohrid Framework Agreement
(2001) that finished ethnic conflict between two major ethnicities, Macedonians and Albanians,
pacification tendencies, supported by international factor, aiming stabilization and creating new
perspectives were functional. But last years, especially from the year 2006, permanent interethnic
and interreligious tensions reappeared via government's dozen of irrational policies that aims
monoethnicization/monoreligionization of society's infrastructure and superstructure. Serious social
tensions are some of the effects of the provocations as Encyclopaedia 2009, church on capital’s
Ottoman castle, antiurban project "Skopje 2014", Vevchani 2012 etc. This paper is based on a
multidimensional study that enables scientific interpretation and elaboration of phenomenon of
"divided society in progress" through analysis of two cases when tradition (carnival) and sport
(handball) were used not as cohesive but fragmentation tool.

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2. Culture: General insight

The term culture derives from the Latin word colere that means: plow the land, sow,
harvest or work. The word culture is used as synonyms of “sowing”. This term was used at the time
of Bismarck, when were established the foundations of Germans’ union in the meaning of
expression of spiritual national values; physiognomy of the spirit of a nation, reflection of the
philosophy and aspirations of a nation. In the common language cultured person is considered the
one that speaks a couple of languages, knows history, literature, philosophy and beautiful arts. It
does not exist an overall definition of culture accepted by all scientist. Two American Anthropologists
Kroeber and Klukholn in their book from 1952 have written 164 definitions on culture. The most
classical definition of culture gave E.B. Taylor, who said that the culture is a complex entirety that
includes knowledge, art, ethics, moral, traditions and all the skills one obtains as member of the
society. C. Wisler says that culture represents the way of living of a nation. Claude Lèvi Strauss, one
of the main advocates of French structuralism defines the culture as union made of mental
structures impacted by the history, psychological and social environment of the group. In
anthropology with the term culture we mean the common way how a nation lives and the social
heritage an individual gains from his group. The culture is a factor that determines human’s
behaviors. If a person behaves in a manner, it reflects the fact that he was born and educated in the
environment of a particular cultural tradition. The culture of a society shapes the individuality of its
members. All the cultures in the globe, regardless their differences, bear religious features. In
general, religious culture possesses integrated aspect in the social structure, but as well the
“autonomous” mechanism that acts completely out of the social structure. Each culture within its
structure includes methods and values that are not weighted or judged with the criteria of another
culture. According to G. Markush, a philosopher of culture from the old school of Budapest, the
culture is a concept consisted of two layers: an anthropological approach and sector approach.
Based on the first approach, the culture is integrity of all activities we do not carry out instinctively,
but we learn them, rather the entirety of the skills we cultivate, that give meaning to the “human” life.
The other approach - sector type (or with direct evaluation burden) is known for everyone:
comprises the domain that usually is named “high culture”, the domain that embraces “immortal”
works of art, scientific spirit, philosophy and religion. (Haviland, 2002: 270; Kluckholn, 1998: 69;
Tomash, 1989: 203)

3. Culture as fragmentation tool: Vevcani Carnival and religious-ethnic polarizations

Each culture possess its elements of particularity, significant, signs with relational
character, that firmly connect the members of a group in the scope of common symbols, that
necessarily determine the constrains of division with the other culture. Cultural anthropology states
that the multiplicity of cultural components is an evident social phenomenon, so almost there is no a
culturally monolith society. It is significant to understand what John Rawls has called “the fact of
reasonable pluralism” (the fact of reasonable pluralism). (Maclure-Taylor, 2011: 10). Anyhow the
reality proves that the signs, initiate and are interpreted from different perspectives. The sign-
operator causes direct reaction of receiver or alteration of his state, e.g. feeling fear, rage or joy. The
human is designator as well, he can comment the signals and signs and he can develop a opinion
on them. (Kloskovska, 2005: 91-92) In general, culture facilitates the stability, continuity and
progress of human society (Ilić, 1978: 13)
Republic of Macedonia is multicultural society, with a diversity of its ethnic and religious
composition, an environment, where for centuries are situated components of different ethnicities,
complex identities, different civilizations, ancient cultures, Byzantine, Ottoman, Slavic, Albanian,

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Macedonian, Turkish, Serbian, Bosnian, Vlahos’ etc. In addition, Macedonia is a multiethnic society,
multi-religious, grouped in distinctive systems of values.
Although, historically these cultures have cohabited mutually, after the withdrawal of
Ottoman State from these territories, serious turbulences were experienced, starting from the
ideology of romanticism, triad history-folklore-ethnos, nationalism and identities, that Malouf defines
ad murderous. Balkan societies nowadays face with “negative peace”, conventionally defined as
lack of struggle and conflict, aiming to reach positive peace that includes the presence of some
capacities and conditions intending to create a primary situation of harmony and equilibrium, not
only a result of a political agreement. (Kallën, 2012:227)
In Republic of Macedonia “multicultural nationalisms” are in permanent contact, so in this
context Macedonian nationalism is within a competition-struggle with other nationalisms, especially
with the Albanian nationalism (Atanasov, 2004: 306). We can freely say that the society of RM has a
need for organizing the diversity and complexity as unreduced property of human world (Eriksen,
2007: 1058) within an environment, where instead of the process of integration exists the process of
segregation. This can be seen in all the domains of life, starting from the politics, education, culture,
reaching to urbanism, sport etc. As more obvious example of the process of fragmentation is the
capital, Skopje, where is taking place a phenomenon of ethno-urbanism, rather Beirutisation (DW,
2012) as consequence of anti-urban design “Skopje 2014” that segregates the capital on ethnic and
religious lines.
2012 was a year with political and cultural turbulences in RM, occurred Vevchani case
(scandalous carnival), Nish (chauvinistic fanatic fans), Gostivar (execution of two young Albanians
by a ethnic Macedonian policeman), urban busses in Skopje (beating Albanian students by
Macedonian hooligans), Smilkovci (macabre execution of five Macedonians), that caused raise of
“ethnic tensions with religious dimensions” (Reynal-Querol, 2000: 15), as differentia speciffica of
Balkans.
Even cultural events can generate clash to vast extent. This was proved by the traditional
carnival, organized in the village of Vevchani in Struga (13-14 of January), characterized as one
biggest cultural manifestation in RM (Utrinski Vesnik), where externally was caused a diplomatic
scandal with Greece (due to the symbolic burial of the Greek corpse), so Greece sent to Macedonia
a protest note, internally was generated a turbulence with religious nuances, were upset religious
feelings of almost half of the population of RM.
American sociologist M. B. McGuire (2007: 328) says that the religious limits very often are
related to the other outlines of separations, such as racial or ethnic, political or national loyalty and
so on. This ascertainment is valid for the case of Macedonia, where ethnic Macedonians identify
themselves with Christian orthodoxy, rather Albanians with Islam. (state.gov) In Vevchani’s carnival,
that is comprised of pagan and modern celebration, there was a scoffing and irritating attack against
Islamic values, like Quran, veil (hijab), turban, imam’s coat, prayer (salah), bowing (sajdah), in other
words it exceeded the redline of a maskenball. This degrading parade, unnatural and perverse
linkage between sacred and pornography caused reactions amongst Muslim population all-round
Macedonia. The spokesperson of this anger became the Mufti office of Struga, releasing a reaction,
where amongst other was stated that:
“From these video sequences is clearly obvious that one carnival attendee has in his
head a so called turban-fes and in his hand holds the Holy book of Islam, but on the book is written
Kuron, then some other citizens dressed with priest’s coat and veil (hijab) bow to sajdah above
Islamic flag, where is placed a giant penis about one meter long”… “There are visible images of

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pedophilia and other anti-Islamic phenomenon’s, because these images caused hard feelings and
exacerbate interreligious and interethnic relations, that as such are fragile in this land”. (ditari.com)
This carnival, characterized by the Minister of culture as “illuminating pearl of Macedonian
tradition and a brand for introducing Macedonia to the world” (kultura.gov.mk), but in contrary to this,
by a representative of Islamic Union in RM it was characterized as “carnival of dirtiness” (A. Islami).
It arouse serious polemics in the public, where even were produced statements such as: “Either
unified state or a split up” (Mufti of Struga, Polisi).
Islamic Union in its reaction in global scope stressed out the feelings of a psychology of an
antiislamic madness, islamophobia:
“Unfortunately, islamophobia is in the process of grooving and related to an irrational
hatred, that certain persons promote in our society against that what represents Islam
and Muslims. In our case, islamophobia is present and inherited in our culture, in the art,
literature, media, public debates, where Muslims are treated as “aliens” and opponents of
the civilization”. (bim.org.mk)1
This situation caused the emergency meeting of Committee for Interethnic Relations,
intending to amortize the tensions, to calm down the situations and take measures to regain ethnic
and religious confidence, to heal the threatened cohabitation in Macedonia, where people are
whistled just because they sing in Albanian in the center of Skopje,2 where took place a curiosity
because after 50 years a foreign TV (TRT) station come to Skopje and broadcast a song in
Albanian language in national MRT Channel.3 So in the case of Vevchani, culture was converted to
anti-culture, affect the most sensitive piece of our era, the one of inter-religious clashes (which
tragedy we saw in Bosnia, and now we see it in Nigeria, Myanmar, Palestine-Israel), that was
composed in academic principle by Huntington.

4. Sport as scene of ethno nationalism: “Nish 2012”

Sport, an activity that derives from the religious festivals and nowadays one of the domains
of attraction and postmodern culture is an institution that consumes leisure time and recreation and
promotes health (Olympic games of ancient Greeks, that started in 766 B.C. with the concept of
mental and corporal development) and close relations between people. Since the industrialization, a
secularization process took place and sport was divided from the religion, obtaining the extents of a
particular institution, a new form of control (Marcuse), of collective mobilization (Gjata, 2003: 36), of
neopaganism, of dictature së based on football, fiesta, fado (Salazar), of modern slavery.4
The term sport for the first time comes across in the novels of Catalan and Castilian (XI-
XIII century) and in sociological theory we find three perspectives: functionalist, conflicting and
cultural studies. According to the first perspective, sport is a mean for social integration, provides
common interests and unifies people in racial, ethnic and class basis; enhances norms and social
values, teaches them to work, to act as a team and respect the authority. In addition to this,
according to the conflict theory sport has a negative social “mission”, preserves inequities, distracts
people from their real problems, legitimize the violence and justifies inadequate division of the
wealth. The third perspective is focused on the evolution of sport from an entertaining activity,
oriented towards the participation, to an activity similar to the work of corporations, led by the
principles of commercialization and entertainment, showbiz. (Frey, 1991: 503-522)
Sport, that in the past was an open and spontaneous game, nowadays has become “e
total social fact”, rather an indivisible part of the society of spectacle (Gjata, 2003: 13, 25), or a real
industry where billions turnover, where plenty of money in most of the cases are manipulated by
underground bosses that set up the real sport, it intoxicates and makes passive the most vital part of

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the society, avoiding them from authentic youth engagements, leading them to betting offices that
grow up just like mushrooms after the rain. Various scandals that occurred lately, gradually are
weakening the interest of those satisfied from the great sportsmen as Li Ning, Comaneci, Lendl,
Stenmark, Jabbar, Zico, Kukoc…
Sport has turned into an area of releasing hatred and nationalistic rage, ethno-fascistic
approach, excommunication trends that jeopardizes social interest of the peace. The last cases of
Nish, Serbia (European Championship in handball, 15-29 of January 2012), Port Said (football
match between al-Masry- el-Ahly, where more than 70 people lost their lives, 1st February, 2012)
and March in Belgrade5 are metaphors of destructive extent of rage and extreme(ist) passion of
sport fans, who get into trans under devilish ecstasy and state offensive language that becomes
morbid action against “the other”. The cult of victory has made sport followers to so called fans or
fanatics that always associate me with an illness and condition needed to be cured in clinics, instead
of being revealed in sport tribunes. These images create a performance of “the black choir”, that
with or without conductor creates a real shuddering environment. This assumption is valid for those
watching sport matches live on the spot, as well for TV spectators.
As well in the context of RM youth vagabondism and fanatic sport fans that always attack
each other represent a destructive and dangerous phenomenon against social peace and the
process of creation of a stabile and functional society. Extreme sport fans call people on war cry by
announcements, graffiti, or use indecent vocabulary. This vocabulary I experienced last winter in a
basketball match (Liria-Kumanovo) where the curses and offences where so much exposed so you
would never like to watch such matches anymore, due to the low and offensive attacks against the
opponent team (Macedonian team) and against the referees. I was shocked due to the selfish ad
hoc, contradictive and strange reasoning: All players of BC Liria were of Slavic origine, the best was
Serbian (Simic), and on the other hand the fanatic supporters were singing “Ethnic Albania”, “I live
red and black…”, “Xhamadani vija-vija...” (Doublet jacket with thin lines), cursed Macedonian girl
(“Makedonsko devojçe...”) etc.
On the other, hand Slavic fans have crossed any red light, even transgressing the domain
of physical anthropology and Darwinist theory, they attack Albanian on racial basis. Even when
Albanians play for the national team of RM, even when they score, instead of being applauded they
are “awarded” with curses on ethnic basis6. The analysis of the content proves that Macedonian
sport is highly infected wit antialbanism. In 2012 Macedonia, “cursed Albanians” were present in
Serbia (Nish), at the European championship, even they were physically far away. Macedonian
ethnic sport fanatics, who want pure Macedonia (“Чиста Македонија!”), were seeing Albanian
ghost hundreds of kilometers away. They want more to see Albanians beneath the ground than
above it (“Dead Albanian is good Albanian!”). The victory against non-Albanians (Czech Republic)
was celebrated as victory against Albanians. The worst of all this is the fact that the players, whose
task was to give a beauty to the game and create sport stimmung instead of cursing, they joined to
this massive rage that derived from their inappropriately gained education. Beyond all that was the
moment when the State President “a step towards ground zero”, decorated those, who diminished
the foundations citizen’s household. Albanian coalition partner in the government and Albanian
opposition party reacted against this act.
A very famous song of Billy Joel from 1989, “We didn’t start the fire” ends with “But we
tried to fight it”. The text means that Americans are not responsible for the problems of the world.
The title explains a feature of postmodern era. Each group considers that “we didn’t start the fire”;
meaning that the other ethnic and religious groups started first. It is not a sentiment taking into

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account in order to encourage dialogue and harmony. In our society, everybody points the finger
towards the other one!
During my childhood and youth age I was always buying sport magazine “Tempo” and I as
keeping them as “a very worthy” collection” (all that remained in my memory). I remember one of the
cover pages of the magazine that marked the end of Yugoslavia: football stadium Maksimir, fight
between Bad Blue Boys (Dinamo’s fanatic supporters) and Delije (fanatic supporters of Red Star)
and the kick of Croatian player Boban in a kung-fu technique throwing in the air the helmet of a
Yugoslavian militia. He became national hero of Croatia cause against macabre Serbism. Similar
clashes were noticed in basketball matches as well (Cibona-Partizan), where all raged nationalism
requisites were present, starting from the flags, hats, badges and the repertoire of chetnic and
ustash songs.
When you think of the events in Yugoslavian sport arenas two decades ago and the
current situation in Macedonia, unavoidably raises the question, how come a state that experienced
a conflict and peaceful agreement now follows this ethnocentric logics, that doesn’t care much about
improvement of the climate, but applies illiberal politics and plays with the fires that managed to
escape.
After Nish, in a magazine was written, that after the chauvinism and racism there is no
Albanian that gives an attention to Macedonian national team: its results for Albanians would initiate
interest as those of Swaziland, Cambodia or Trinidad and Tobago. How could this feeling be
different, when from the repertoire of Macedonian fanatic supporters we hear: “Neither on the sky
nor on the ground for Albanians there is no place” (within this song they are treated as guerillas,
ragmen, “two headed black beast”. They are shame for Macedonia. God punish them. May thunder
hits them and no trace leave behind). In addition, in the Facebook Page of Macedonian handball
national team we read:
“Do you know why Macedonia has excellent results in basketball, water polo and
handball? As long as stinky Albanians are not involved in these sports, we will achieve a lot of
success; everywhere our pureblood Macedonians show up, we will achieve victories!” If Hitler would
have read this he would try to associates it with the Aryan (white) race, and if we would remind him
the cheering “gas chambers for Albanians”… he would easily find himself as part of that
environment.
Albanophobia trend has dominated the “discourse” of journalists, an Neanderthal of
revival-macedonism, a “face with pedigree” of sport journalism (Milenko Nedelkovski), close fiend of
Gruevski, says:
“I have the six season of my TV show and so far I haven’t invited any Muslim or Albanian
guest. I multiply them with zero!”
Although the last victory of Macedonian football national team against Serbia, with a goal
scored by an Albanian player, created an atmosphere of relaxtation (noticed in forums and media),
still the events in Kavadarci in the basketball match between junior teams of Feni Industri and NBA
Chair (against was evident statement “cursed Albanians” - Lajm, 24.10.2012”) proved that social
developments and phenomenon do not change that quickly.

5. Conclusion
As Collingwood has pointed out, peace is a “dynamic issue” (Collingwood, 1971: 334),it
requires awareness and vigilance, a continuous state of awareness, requires action. Macedonia is a
fragile society, which due to irrational public politics stands in glass legs, threatened by nationalism
and phobia towards the others. Imprudent deeds in the domain of culture are social destructors, that

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do not contribute for the cohabitation nor the shared civility and looks like (e)utopia, when we bear in
mind this discourse, even still seem achievable when we hear the voice of reasonable people, as
stated in relation to the dyad sport-nationalism Serbian-Croatian, burning a flag or showing a
chauvinistic parole are symptoms of an illness being developed within the organism and it can
terminate the state itself ((Pendarovski, plusinfo.com). Vital societies as music band (Arhangel)
says, has no need of “provincial glory”, neither for “calmness for buying”.
We suggest different authorities to take measures in order to change the course of events
in the domain of culture, including sport as physical culture, te educate the citizens, develop a profile
of a human that has into account the symbols and values of the other, as far as didn’t approach the
time of scream “I can not take it anymore”! In this regards must be enhanced legal measures too, in
the meaning of disciplining the “cultural perpetrators” those how insult the culture of the others,
verbal and physical hooligans. School, media, public persons, politicians, religious leaders can play
e very significant role in avoiding social pathologies, in the spirit of normal functioning of social
factory, where sport will be free and spontaneous game, but not a struggle “for life or death” nor a
war with different methods.

References
 Atanasov, P. (2004) “Macedonia Between Nationalism(s) and Multiculturalism: The Framework Agreement And Its
Multicultural Conjectures”. Sociologija, Vol. XLV, N° 4.
 Blazhevska, K., “Beautification or Beirutization of Skopje?”, Deutche Welle, 27.12.2012.
 Collingwood, R. G. The New Leviathan (1971). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
 Eriksen, Th. H. (2007) “Complexity in social and cultural integration: Some analytical dimensions”. Ethnic and Racial
Studies. Vol. 30, No. 6 November 2007 pp. 1055-1069.
 Frey, J. H. (1991) “Sport and Society”. Annual Review of Sociology. Vol. 17: 503-522.
 Gjata, F. (2003) Sociologjia e sportit. Tiranë: Afërdita.
 Haviland, W. A. (2002) Kültürel Antropoloji. Stamboll: Kaknüs Yayınları.
 Ilić, M. (1978) Sociologija kulture i umetnosti. Beograd: Naučna Knjiga.
 Kallën, I. (2012) Islami, arsyeja dhe bota moderne. Skopje: Logos-A.
 Kloskovska, A. (2005) Sociologija kulture. Beograd: Čigoja Štampa.
 Kluckholn, C. (1998) “Queer Customs”, në Lisa J. McIntyre, The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology. London-
Toronto: Mayfield Publishing Company.
 Maclure, J. and Taylor, Ch. (2011) Secularism and Freedom of Conscience. London: Harvard University Press.
 McGuire, M. B. (2007) Religjioni: Konteksti shoqëror. Skopje: Logos-A.
 Lajm, July 29, 2012; October 24, 2012.
 Reynal-Querol, M. & Montalvo, José G. (2000) A Theory of Religious Conflictand Its Effect on Growth. London: LSE.
 Tomash, G. et.al. (1989) Filozofia dhe tranzicioni. Tiranë: Arbri & Soros.
 Utrinski vesnik, January 5, 2012.
 http://www.ditari.com/lajme/reagime-nga-bfi-ja-karnevali-i-vevcanit-poshteruan-islamin.html
 http://www.bim.org.mk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=376:reagim-ndaj-karnevalit-te-
vevcanit&catid=39&Itemid=111/28.12.2012
 http://www.kultura.gov.mk/index.php/odnosi-so-javnost/soopstenija/388-vevcanski-karneval-2012/30.10.2012
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHUQmjl6G4Y
 http://www.lyrics85.com/bb-uber-mazedonische-lyrics/264102/30.10.2012
 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/193047.pdf/07.11.2012

1The biggest anger was expressed towards the Government. According to the officials of this union, islamophobia is often
combined with the Government’s propaganda such is the case of Vevchani carnival, for which the Government of
Macedonia each year allocates 50.000 euros. Apart from that the most disgusting moment of this carnival was the
participation of Minister of culture, MPs from Macedonian position and opposition political parties and the mayor of
municipality of Vevchani.

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2 The concert of 21st anniversary of Macedonian independence organised on 8th of September, 2012 in the Arena Philip II.
3 On the occasion of 100 anniversaries of Balkans wars, National Radio Television of Turkey, on the motto “From Balkans
wars to Balkans peace” organised a great musical spectacle “Balkan Fest” where attended 14 well known singers from
Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. (Lajm, 29 korrik 2012)
4 There are cases when a player is sold for three other players + an amount of money.
5 Fanatics of Football club Rad from Belgrad in the match against Novi Pazarin, had displayed the message “Nozh-Zhica-

Srebrenica” (knife, wire, Srebrenica) referring to the genocide done against the Bosnians.
6 The last case was the football match between Macedonia and Serbia (October 16), where according to live legend

commentator Artim Shaqiri, present at this event, ethnic Albanian players, creators of victory, were insulted on national
bases.

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