Mitrovica
It was a pleasure to interview three young women in the northern town of Mitrovica. A city that is split in half by a river. The southern part, Kosovo-Albanian have built a thriving community. In the northern part, Serbians have settled and live essentially an exiled life.
KFOR troops continue to patrol and guard the main bridge that divides the city. Images of Djorkovic can be found.
The Project Design
My question catalogue triangulates a person's narrative by continuously investigating their memory, identity, and self. While each issue may seem distinct, they are often interconnected, as the interviewee's lived experience navigates against recent cultural assumptions. This study aimed to examine young women challenged by the intersection of ethnicity, locale, and identity formation.
Participants were selectively recruited based on educational attainment, as higher education served as the variable to test hypotheses around whether scholarly capital might mitigate the masculinist pressures within their sociocultural environs. This purposeful sampling focused on capturing the lived experiences of a demographic consistently marginalized by the predominating patriarchal mores.
Mitrovica, Serbian hero "Djorkovic" (c) Sascha Klamp
The Participants
Alma K
The unedited interview with Alma K. Her dynamic enthusiasm is catching. Her assessment of the past, her understanding of the now and her expectations for the future are filled with critical thought and analysis. She formulated some strong views that many would struggle to articulate as clear, concise and thoughtful.
Alma K. sits down with me to discuss her story. Click on the button below to hear the full audio (unedited) both in Albanian and English translations by my fixer, Kosove G.
Alma K., Mitrovia (June 2023)