Full Description
Johann Georg von Hahn - a nineteenth-century Austrian diplomat and explorer - is generally considered to be the founder of Albanian Studies as a scholarly discipline. It was he who first studied the Balkan country and its people, and who brought them to the attention of the academic world. Despite this acclaim, his work has not been widely available in English until now. In this volume, Robert Elsie has translated Hahn's most important works relating to his travels and studies in Albania during the mid-nineteenth century. Hahn's interests were broad, but he was especially interested in the tribes of Albania and Kosovo and made several ethnographic studies of the cultures and traditions of the tribes he encountered on his travels - including the Kelmendi, Hoti and Kastrati tribes. This volume will be invaluable readers for scholars of Balkan history and anthropology.
Contents
Introduction
Travel Writings
Travels through Albania
Travels through Kosovo
Travels through Northern Albania
Oral Literature and Ethnographic Writings
Legend of the Founding of the Kelmendi Tribe
Legend of the Founding of the Hoti and Triepshi Tribes
Legend of the Founding of the Kastrati Tribe
Albanian Folk Tales from the Island of Poros
Account of Pederasty in Central and Northern Albania
Southern Albanian Love Songs
Correspondence
Letters to the Scottish historian, George Finlay
Letters to the Archbishop of Antivari, Carl Pooten
Bibliography
Index
