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CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN TWO SHORT STORIES BY ALICE MUNRO...
re-interpretation of elements of a culture speaks for itself in the sense of cultural
appropriation (especially if we draw a parallel between the name of Gjurdhi and
the similar naming practices among the indigenous people of the Americas).
At the very beginning of the story, Munro provides a questionable
translation of Crna Gora as Black Rock or Montenegro. The right translation is
Black Mountain, just as the Italianised term of Montenegro implies. The story
is set in the region known in Albanian language as Malési e Madhe (meaning
Great Mountains), and right at the beginning Munro states that the region is
known in the language of the Ghegs** as Maltsia e madhe, which is correct,
phonetically at least. Munro continues with her explanations of toponyms by
giving multiple versions of place names, such as Scutari/Sckhoder/Skodra*®
and Bar/Antivari. This, and Munro’s constant reference to the language of
the Ghegs, shows Munro’s intention to provide a wider, almost encyclopaedic
knowledge of the land and culture. However, amassed in a short story, the
provided knowledge only identifies the author as an outsider to the described
cultural group. It is interesting to note that Munro mentions the city of Vuthaj
as the residence of the person chosen to marry Lottar but does not provide
the Montenegrin name for the city Gusinje (the city was a part of Montenegro
during the period described in the story).
Munro also provides a lot of cultural input on what I roughly classify as the
information on language, economy, geography and religion. Examples of the
usage of Albanian words and sentences in the story are numerous. The first
Albanian term that appears in the story is kula. While the description of the
term is mostly correct (a higher tower attached to a family house), the Slavonic
spelling of the word is used (the term was taken over by both Slavonic and
Albanian languages from the Turkish term kule meaning tower) instead of
Albanian kullé/kulla. This is similar to the usage of the term giaour to mean
non-Muslim (infidel). In Albanian (and surrounding Slavonic languages), this
term exists, depicting a Christian under the Ottoman rule, and is spelled
as kaur. Furthermore, at the end of the story Lottar shouts xoti! which,
Munro explains, means “leader” or “master” in the language of the Ghegs.
The standard Albanian word for mister or sir is zoti, and I could not find proof
that a distinctive Ghegs spelling or pronunciation of that word exists. The
only Albanian term that Munro seems to have gotten right, both semantically
and linguistically, is the word sofra for the low dining table which enabled
people to eat while sitting on the floor.
Gheg dialect, or sometimes referred to as language, is the northern dialect of Albanian
language. Gheg dialect shows significant differences compared to the southern dialect of
Tosk (on which the standard Albanian language is based) from which it is divided by the
River Shkumbin.
Scutari and Scodra are the most prominent historical names for what is today referred to as
Shkodér or Shkodra.
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