CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Bajraktari, Vlera |
|---|---|
| Title | Resisting silence, Claiming Space: LGBTQ+ Counterpublics in Kosovo |
| Summary | This thesis investigates how LGBTQ+ activism in Kosovo—focusing on the work of the organization Dylberizm—challenges heteronormative constructions of national identity and creates alternative cultural spaces of belonging. Rather than seeking mere inclusion within dominant frameworks, activists engage in both resistance and reimagining, disrupting narratives that frame queerness as foreign or incompatible with being Kosovar. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis and grounded in the theory of counterpublics (Fraser; Warner), the research examines how activists reclaim erased histories, language, and rituals while performing queerness in public and symbolic spaces. Drawing on digital texts, cultural events, and a semi-structured interview with one of the founders of Dylberizm, the study highlights two main strategies: resisting heteronormativity through critique and counter-memory, and creating alternative queer spaces through storytelling, ritual, and performance. The findings show that queer activism in Kosovo is not only a struggle for rights but a cultural and political project that unsettles the normative foundations of the nation. Activists articulate belonging on their own terms, queering both the past and the future. This research contributes to queer theory, nationalism studies, and international relations by showing how queer counterpublics transform the symbolic structure of the nation from within. |
| Supervisor | Strausz, Erzsebet |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/bajraktari_vlera.pdf |
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