Holding Multiple Nationalisms: Perspectives of an Albanian Ottoman

Abstract

This project considered the works and life of Shemseddin Sami, an ethnic Albanian Ottoman who advocates for Turkish and Albanian nationalist movements. By looking at the status of ethnic and imperial identity, the role of language of the Ottoman Empire, and the local, regional and global realities of Sami, this project aimed to better understand how an individual could hold seemingly contradictory ideals. This paper aims to understand the positions of Sami, as he understood them, and then provide the rationale for such opinions. This paper used secondary literature to identify flaws in past approaches to nationalist movements, as well trying to show more nuanced approaches in recent academic work. By using primary sources, this paper offers an in-depth approach to the topics at hand by not being stuck in a functionalist paradigm. This study found that the environment of the Ottoman Empire, the transmission of ideas, and language played massively important roles in the mind of Sami and others like him in the period.