A Narrative of Cosmopolitanism: An Analysis of Ismail Kadare’s A Girl in Exile in the Light of Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Theory of Rooted Cosmopolitanism
A Narrative of Cosmopolitanism: An Analysis of Ismail Kadare’s A Girl in Exile in the Light of Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Theory of Rooted Cosmopolitanism

Summary/Abstract: In his The Ethics of Identity (2007b), and Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2007a), philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah coins “rooted cosmopolitanism” as an inclusive and diversity-oriented political philosophy that would enable the reconsideration of the previously-established world equilibriums to meet the needs of the contemporary individual. In contrast to other contemporary theories that are either constructed exclusively on the ethnic and cultural belonging of a community or totally ignore them, rooted cosmopolitanism considers ethnicity and culture to be integral parts of human identity, although not its sole defining factors. Indeed to Appiah, our cultural backgrounds serve primarily to lay the foundations of inter and intra-cultural dialogue, while multicultural co-existence and mutual understanding is to be achieved through the emphasizing of universal and shared values. Taking these as a starting point, this paper attempts to analyze one of Ismail Kadare’s most recent novels, A Girl in Exile (2016). It maintains that the Albanian writer, in this novel with autobiographical elements, incorporates the characteristics of rooted cosmopolitanism to both shed light on the experience of Albanians under the communist dictatorship as well as to represent, revitalize and promote a culture and ethnic group still victimized by marginalization and exclusion.

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