Women’s Share of Inheritance: 10 oral histories

This collection of interviews is an invitation to read personal stories of how people experienced, understand and remember custom, behavior and change on women property rights and inheritance in Kosova.

The interviewees tell us their life stories, experiences and opinions on woman’s share of inheritance; they talk about decision-making within different families; they discuss about t’pani (a kind of lifetime compensation for the married daughters by inviting them to take toil for weeks or months, usually twice a year) and dowry or çeizi (girl’s personal goods, clothing, handcrafted work and decorations) and so forth. They also give their opinions on current affairs on inheritance rights, social and cultural changes happening every day and propose alternative choices to traditional norms.
In general, the stories given in interviews indicate that the right of the daughter to get their share of family inheritance exists as a concept in the traditional way of thinking.

This was a project of the American Corner Pristina in cooperation with the Anthropology Department of the University of Pristina and the National Library Kosova. The project was funded through a U.S. Embassy, Pristina grant. “The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed therein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State.”

Interview audios are available only in their original language of interview, i.e. in Albanian. Interview transcripts are available both in Albanian and English.

The interview transcripts were published in a book accompanied with a preface by the mentor and an audio disk containing all interviews. Click on the cover image below to access the full published book in its PDF format. It will open in a new window.

 


Interview audios below: 

Interviewee: Igballe Morina (86yrs) — Interviewer: Bjeshka Guri

Date of interview: 07.12.2016 — Place: Ferizaj — Duration: 38’53”

Interview 1

Interviewee: Anonymous (39yrs)– Interviewer: Bjeshka Guri

Date of interview: 07.12.2016 — Place: Ferizaj — Duration: 38’53”

 Interview 2

Interviewee: Flora Batalli (60yrs) — Interviewer: Fjolla Thaçi

Date of interview: 06.12.2016 — Place: Prishtina — Duration: 36’37”

Interview 3

Interviewee: Anonymous (75yrs) –Interviewer: Fjolla Thaçi

Date of interview: 09.12.2016 — Place: Prishtinë — Duration: 26’0″

Interview 4

Interviewee: Petrit Bytyqi (29yrs) — Interviewer: Iliriana Lira Blakaj

Date of interview: 10.12.2016 — Place: Pristinë– Duration: 32’28”

Interview 5

Interviewee: Zyla Imeri Duli (69yrs) — Interviewer: Iliriana Lira Blakaj

Date of interview: 03.12.2016 — Place: Fushë Kosovë — Duration: 23’13”

Interview 6

Interviewee: Bijë Hazreti (52yrs) — Interviewer: Linda Hiseni

Date of interview: 13.12.206 — Place: Prishtinë — Duration: 18’16”

Interview 7

Interviewee: SZ (anonymous) (58yrs) — Interviewer: Linda Hiseni

Date of interview: 10.12.2016 — Place: Prishtinë — Duration: 12’23”

Interview 8

Interviewee: Eremira Binakaj (29yrs) — Interviewer:  Petrit Bytyqi

Date of interview: 13.12.2016 — Place: Prishtinë — Duration: 15’97”

Interview 9

Interviewee: Ymrane Shala (56yrs) — Interviewer: Petrit Bytyqi

Date of interview: 14.12.2016 — Place: Prishtinë — Duration: 21’31”

Interview 10