Lea Ypi’s autofictional narrative Free: Coming of Age at the End of History (2022) explores identity, freedom, and cultural translation in communist and post-communist Albania. This abstract examines how Ypi's work, rooted in Albania’s unique historical context, serves as a translation of these lived experiences for a global audience. Judith Butler’s concepts of performativity, subjection, and ethical responsibility are used to analyze the cultural, political, and ideological translation in Ypi’s narrative.

Identity as Performative Construction

Ypi presents identity as shaped by ideological expressions. In Gender Trouble (1990), Butler writes, “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; [...] identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results” (Butler, 2006, p. 25). Ypi reflects on how her identity was shaped by ideology: “The Party was not just an organization, it was an ideal to strive for” (Ypi, 2022, p. 42). This performative construction reveals tensions between competing ideologies.

Freedom and Subjection

Ypi explores the paradox of freedom in Albania’s political context. Butler, in The Psychic Life of Power (1997), states that subjection and freedom are intertwined: “Subjection is the process of becoming subordinated by power as well as the process of becoming a subject” (Butler, 1997, p. 2). Ypi recounts: “We were free not to go to school anymore, but also free not to have a job. Free to starve” (Ypi, 2022, p. 201).

Translation as Ethical Practice

Ypi’s work translates Albania’s political history for a global audience. In Giving an Account of Oneself (2005), Butler emphasizes that self-narration is shaped by norms of intelligibility: “Our capacity to reflect upon and give an account of ourselves is conditioned by norms of intelligibility” (Butler, 2005, p. 21). Ypi translates personal experiences, offering different perspectives on freedom: “For my parents, freedom meant being at peace with the past. For me, freedom meant traveling west” (Ypi, 2022, p. 168).

Lea Ypi’s Free is a profound exploration of identity, freedom, and translation in the context of Albania’s political transformations. Butler’s perspectives offer tools for understanding how Ypi translates her experiences across cultural boundaries.

References

Butler, J. (1997). The psychic life of power. Stanford University Press.

Butler, J. (2004). Precarious life. Verso.

Butler, J. (2005). Giving an account of oneself. Fordham University Press.

Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Ypi, L. (2022). Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. W. W. Norton & Company.

Vladimir Jankélévitch (1903-1985), professeur de philosophie morale à la Sorbonne de 1951 à 1981, toujours très présent en France 40 ans après sa mort, a publié de son vivant 10 livres sur la musique. Amoureux du piano, il vivait dans un appartement de l'île de la Cité à Paris avec deux pianos à queue et entouré d'une grande collection de partitions. Anne Queffélec (1948- ), pianiste qui appelle Jankélévitch « collègue » a écrit en 2020 un texte intitulé « En noir et blanc » pour le Cahier Vladimir Jankélévitch(L’Herne). Le texte de Queffélec jette un nouvel éclairage sur la personnalité de Jankélévitch et, en même temps, sur sa philosophie et sa théorie musicale du point de vue d'un pianiste. Elle vouvoie Jankélévitch dans ce texte et évoque le potentiel de ce que Jankélévitch aurait pu être.

Cette communication se référera à la contribution de Queffélec comme point de départ pour approfondir notre compréhension de la philosophie et de la théorie musicale de Jankélévitch ainsi que de sa vie au piano.

Since the introduction of Bakhtin’s theory to China in the 1980s, the literary and theoretical circles initially paid attention to his polyphonic novel theory and then moved towards a comprehensive study of his dialogism and holistic methodology. In the face of a new historical context and the urgent need to inject fresh blood, Chinese realist poetics has received new inspiration from Bakhtin’s holistic sociological poetics. Bakhkin’s discussion of Dostoevsky’s polyphonic novels rooted in the context of complex modernity in Russia in the 19th century inspired the Chinese literary circles to open up the dynamics of realist poetics and modernist poetics. Bakhkin’s transcendence of the non-sociological side of formalism and his persistence in the study of integral literature also provide resources for the way realist poetics can be effective in a modern context.