Jubleta and our patriotic stupidity

Much has been said and written, sometimes even with surprising excitement, that the Albanians were and are the poorest people in Europe.

Poor in the lands. But not so much in the mountains. In the sea, rivers or lakes. Perhaps this paradox between the mountain and the land for the eyes of a foreigner was a ratio that did not fill the foreign photographer's mind to calculate the basic food of an Albanian. Wealth and well-being were not thought of at all. The happiness and health that come after them is a definite no-no.

But there is something that sharply turns your gaze to rethink once again the abundance of the inhabitants of these parts.

Who is she?

It is the traditional Albanian clothing that stubbornly proves how much such definitions have been exaggerated. They, if not everyday, at least in the most solemn moments of life, have given the Albanian man the opportunity to enjoy luxury. And not only the luxury of local handicrafts.

A publication dedicated to the presence of French civilization in Albania (Sinani-Bourrolleau, La France dans les Archives d'Albanie, Tirana 2005), it is clear that Albanian ladies, regardless of the general state of development of the country, in the 1930s followed fashion of Paris and bought the newest French jewelry that was sold to French ladies at the "Vendôme" square.

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The registration of the jublet in the list of world cultural heritage declared under the protection of UNESCO as an original garment of primeval antiquity for humanity is a cultural event of importance for all Albanians.

And together with it, some other Albanian treasures inseparable from it have traveled to the treasure of world heritage. The area of ??the main conservation area of ??jubilate; the lute conservation area, the heroic epic, the canon, the tower, the log, the mountains, the highlands, and traditional life.

But we must be aware that there is always a difference between the wrinkled area, where these riches have been preserved until modern times as heritage and as craftsmanship. Compare this with the area of ??the early spread.

So the question is inevitable, is the jublet really a 4 thousand year old garment? Where do the Illyrians begin and end? Where does the story of jubilation begin and end? How are these eras divided between nationalist mythmaking and what science actually proves?

When will we understand this nonsense of national science?

Jubleta 4 thousand years?!

In the historical-primitive arboreal space, the division into two macrozones, ethnographically in toska and gega; Linguistically in Tosk and Ghenish; in the musical tradition in the area of ??polyphony and homophony, it happened, according to the expression of Eqrem Çabej, in the transition centuries, together with the transition from the Illyrians to the Albanians (5th-7th centuries). Even in terms of clothing typology, the Albanian historical space was divided at the same time into two macrozones: the fustanella in the south and the jublet in the north. The typological mapping of Albanian clothing according to this decision is facilitated by the convincing analogy with the provincial division of the Albanian people by Rrok Zojzi and the provincial division of Kosovo by Mark Krasniqi, which are a continuation of each other.

Based on historical and cultural data and arguments, it can be believed that once the fustanella and jubleta used to meet above and below Shkumbi, without preventing each other from going up or down. Until the middle of the last century, the Kryezini of Gjakovë, Hamzë Kazazi of Shkodra and Ahmet Zogu of Mati wore dresses and were photographed. In the same way, the jubleta, in a stylized form, went down to Berat, even to Lunxëri.

Where does the word jubilate come from?

From the etymological point of view, the name of jubleta is connected with the Turkish root word cüppe, meaning dress, which has been alienated in Albanian in several forms: xhybe, xjubè, xublete, apparently also xup.

The macrozone of jubilation began to be narrowed and closed mainly in the area that the Franciscans called Lekni, that is, from the Mat river to the course of the White Drin, then when the Albanians found themselves in the composition of a superstate completely different from the civilization of the western typology, as was the former Ottoman empire. This is the time when the focus of the epic and the lute, the area of ??the canon and to some extent even Christianity narrows.

Xjubleta and fustanella have complemented each other and both together the very Albanian identity, coexisting at least since the time when Albanians emerged from the Illyrian source. In the descriptions and images that have been preserved of Illyrian clothing, including that of Queen Teuta (in mosaics, for example), there is no jubilee.

Not only jubleta and fustanella, but also other traditional Albanian clothing, such as the clothing of Has, Guri i Bardhë, Mallakastra or Kurvelesi, have been and are messengers of identification for their wearer.

In addition to national and provincial heraldry, the jubleta has also identified the social status of the family. According to some data preserved in the heritage archives, in the bride's chest, on the day of marriage, there should have been, according to social status and wealth, three, seven or nine jublets each for a designated day. The numbers are not random at all. They are all charming numbers. Mainly in Christianity but also in pre-Christianity.

The colors of the dress, its styling, distinguished the betrothed girl, the bride on the first day of marriage, the woman who has just become a mother, the sorceress or the matron of the patriarchal family; the lady who left on Sunday for mass or to baptize the child.

In this sense, the jubilation gave security to those who carried it and dictated respectful relationships to others. Let there be unknown passers-by.

Do we still think we were that poor?

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One of the most well-known traditional rituals of the northern Albanian villages, the log festival, is associated with the jubleta, which has sometimes been described as a beauty contest for girls, sometimes as an artistic duel between the sword and the jubleta.

Siç kanë vlerësuar studiuesit, xhubleta duhej të ishte jo vetëm e bukur, por edhe funksionale, të mos e pengonte bartësen e vet në punë, në ndêjë, në kcim apo në udhëtim. Prandaj meritojnë nderim jo vetëm mjeshtret që e ruajtën zejen e xhubletës, por edhe gratë e vajzat e hijshme që e kanë bartur.

Është interesante të vërehet se edhe leksiku që lidhet me punimin e xhubletës është shumë i hershëm dhe ka disa përkime aspak rastësore me arbërishten e sotme. Këto janë shenja të hershmërisë relative të xhubletës, që na çojnë në periudhën parashqiptare dhe na japin mundësi të veçojmë periudhën paraosmane.

Ndaj e theksojmë sa i takon hershmërisë absolute, në çdo rast duhet të mbahet në konsideratë koha kur u shfaqën ilirët si popullsi banuese e qëndrueshme në hapësirën subdanubiane e në anën tjetër të Adriatikut, si kufi pagabueshmërie.

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Veshja tradicionale shqiptare i ngjan një palimpsesti, ku epokat historike kanë fshehur gjurmën e tyre të pashlyeshme njëra pas tjetrës. Kjo është arsyeja që, aty ku syri i zakonshëm i njeriut sheh një larmi të pafundme veshjesh, abstraksioni i specialistit zbulon afri deri në përputhje të tipeve të tyre.

Në këto veshje, ashtu si në rastin e xhubletës, gjenden shenja të kulteve pagane, si dielli dhe yjet; shenja të totemeve të të parëve, si gjarpëri; shenja të krishtërimit të hershëm, si peshku; shenja të krishtërimit të fshehtë ose të rifshehur prej fillimit të periudhës osmane e këndej, si kryqi i stilizuar dhe simbole të tjera, që ngjajnë shpesh si monograme të kodifikuara me një mjeshtëri të rrallë.

Në veshjet tradicionale shqiptare, sidomos në ato veshje që arkeo-etnologjia provon një vijimësi prej antikitetit apo kohëve të mëvonshme çdo vijë, çdo dekoracion, çdo simbol, çdo ngjyresë që syrit të zakonshëm njerëzor mund t’i ngjajë si një e njohur e rëndomtë, syrit të studiuesit i informon procese shumëshekullore evolucioni. Në këtë proces veshjet shqiptare kanë ruajtur etnicitetin e tyre, duke lejuar, megjithatë, që njeriu të shprehë individualitetin e tij në shije dhe në ngjyra.

Nuk është e rastit që studiueset albanologe L. Conti e O. Marquet shenjojnë një spirito reale, një frymë aristokratike dhe vetëdije mbretërore në veshjet e shqiptarëve mërgimtarë në Itali në periudhën e fundit të mesjetës (Spirito reale nei costumi della donna arbëreshe, Puglia 1988). Ky konstatim merr vlerë duke e vendosur në kontekstin e kohërave moderne.

With the step-by-step completion of the entire Albanian space with the encyclopedia of costumes, perhaps there will really be a need for a linguistic-ethnographic dictionary describing clothing. Not only every garment of every kind, but also every part of them, every corner and seam, every side, have their own names, almost completely unappreciated linguistically and ethnographically.

Think how beautiful it will be!

And the four thousand years turn into a fairy tale.