Styles of Communication (Dec 2018)
Legends about Women in Kosovo's Monuments and their Media Presentation
Abstract
Sacrifice, as a social phenomenon, is as old as mankind and is found in almost all cultures. Related to this, the main goal of this paper is to explore the social and historical relation of women’s sacrifice in the honour of morale code, then analyzing mediatisation of this phenomenon in the present days. Cultural heritage monuments are such not just because they preserve the object, but also because they are covered with legends and stories. This paper will present three cases of Kosovo's cultural heritage monuments, which are related only to women. The first one is about the Girls’ Fortress in Prizren. The fortress took this name because of two legends which were related to women. The second monument filled up in legend is the tomb and mosque of Xhylfatyn in Peja. It is a rare example of a woman's sacrifice for her husband who was an army officer, and whose metamorphosis is on the bridge. The third monument is also related to the act of sacrifice, it represents the sacrifice of a woman who made possible constructing the Holy Bridge which links Gjakova to Rahovec; it is similar to the legend of sacrifice for objects construction which may be encountered in many cultures. All these stories about these legends are also published in the Kosovo’s media and the paper analyses the ways they are presented in media. The qualitative research based on case studies, interviews and observation constitutes researching methods for this paper.
