Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

The purpose of this article is to explore the binary relationships found in the novel My Cat Yugoslavia by the Finnish Albanian writer Pajtim Statovci. The theoretical background to the discussion is the previous research on deconstruction in literature, particularly Jacques Derrida’s theory of the supplement. I construct a research tool based on the assumptions of Derrida’s theory and the polemical exchange with Derrida of Iranian literature researcher Mahdi Shafieyan. On the basis of studies of traditional Albanian society (including Albanians from Kosovo), I introduce the reader to issues such as the traditional model of the Albanian family, ancestral revenge and the role of women in society. These issues undergird the analysis of excerpts from the novel My Cat Yugoslavia, which takes into account the theory of binary relations with regard to elements of the traditions of the ancestors of Albanian immigrants from Kosovo who settled in Finland.