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”Det är nästan som att vi har vår egen religion”: En intervjustudie om kosovoalbansk islam och albanskhet
Södertörn University, School of Historical and Contemporary Studies.
2025 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

The following study aims to answer two research questions, as it pertains to Kosovo Albanian religiousness. The first question deals with what kinds of life memories Swedish Kosovo Albanians associate with religion. The second question covers what importance religion has currently, for Swedish Kosovo Albanians. The study’s material has been gathered, with the help of three group interviews. Each group interview consists of two respondents from the same family, which have at least a generation gap of one generation between them. The theoretical framework which has been applied in the analyses of this study consists of two theories. The first part of the theoretical framework is Clifford Geertz’s description of systems of symbols, in relation to his theory of “Religion as a Cultural System”. This theory has been used to analyze how various parts of Kosovo Albanian life memories of religion, can be understood as symbols of meaning and therefore constitute an integration of various aspects of religion in the Kosovo Albanian culture. The second part is grounded in Cecilie Endresen’s description of “Albanianism”, which subsequently is expanded upon as a result of my own observations in this study. This theory is primarily used, to better understand and explain why religion might not be as important in constructing the collective Albanian identity. The prevailing factor can instead be understood as the ethnical background, which serves the function of uniting Albanians from numerous religious backgrounds. The conclusions which the study has reached are as follows. That life memories of religion among Swedish Kosovo Albanians correspond to two areas, bajram and activities which correspond with bajram, as well as memories of relative’s religiousness. The study also finds that these life memories in several instances, show signs of an Albanian culture where otherwise religious elements, have been integrated into Albanian culture. The study also concludes that religion today, serves at the most as a foundation for Swedish Kosovo Albanians. This is then also concluded to in part be understood in the confines of “Albanianism”, that Swedish Kosovo Albanians value ethnicity over religion and therefore view religion as less important in relation to their daily life. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 46
Keywords [en]
Albanian religion in Sweden, Albanian religion, Kosovo Albanian religiousness, Albanianism
Keywords [sv]
Albansk religiositet i Sverige, Albansk religiositet, Kosovoalbansk religiositet, Albanskhet
National Category
Religious Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-60049OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-60049DiVA, id: diva2:2061828
Subject / course
The Study of Religions
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2026-05-25 Created: 2026-05-22 Last updated: 2026-05-25Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • harvard-anglia-ruskin-university
  • apa-old-doi-prefix.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-harvard.csl
  • sodertorns-hogskola-oxford.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf