The world-famous Albanian writer and philosopher Lea Ypi held a thought-provoking and philosophical conversation today at the University of Tetova. In addition, she also presented her newest book “Free” Coming of Age at the End of History” to the audience. Evaluations for the book were given by the Rector of UT, Prof. Dr. Kushtrim Ahmeti and the director of the “Dudaj” publishing house, Mrs. Arlinda Dudaj.
Rector of the University of Tetova, Prof. Dr. Kushtrim Ahmeti said that the book “Free, Coming of Age at the End of History ” by the thinker and philosopher Lea Ypi is a mix between an autobiographical book and a philosophical essay, serving a role that is both informative and entertaining for the reader, as well also educational, as it is addressed to the universal reader, where at its center stands an entire generation represented by a child, Lea. “In the first part, the author skillfully, through her experiences, gives us a broad picture of Albania during the years that preceded the fall of communism until the beginning of the 90s. An isolated Albania, that had separated relations with other communist states, followed his own path, but he continued to exercise even more authoritarian control over his citizens. Unlike the first part, in the second part Albania of transition is described, perhaps intentionally the author brought it in a slightly more turbulent form. Again we can draw a parallel between the transition of the main character from childhood to adolescence and the transformation of a country in its transition from a dictatorial and socialist country to a democratic country. The book is divided into chapters, where many of them are explained in the manner and simple language of a child, some important social issues, such as immigration, gender inequality, social inequality, the dissolution of social norms, human trafficking, etc. “, emphasized the Rector of the University of Tetova, Prof. Dr. Kushtrim Ahmeti.
The publisher of the book, Arlinda Dudaj, said that, from the first moment she came across this book, she proved that this is the book she expected to publish in 30 years, because inside it is also her life, and that it is a book that presents it fully. “It is a book that I think each of us should read, for many reasons. It looks like it’s a little girl talking there, but there are a lot of philosophical ideas that are described through the narrative and it gets through to anyone who reads it, and often when I hear people have an opinion without reading it I get it right away, because this is a book that touches you and gets into every cell of your body. It is our history, and it is even said that it is not only our history, the history of Albanians, but also of many countries that have gone through systems, maybe not as terrible as ours, but something similar. This book has been translated in 28 languages and will always be read and I am very sure of this”, said the publisher of the book “Free”, Arlinda Dudaj, among others.
While the author of the book, Lea Ypi, said that the main idea of this book has to do with freedom, so being free means seeking freedom, and according to the author, our institution is the image and realization of this idea. “The fact that we are here today and that we have managed to have a conversation about freedom, despite the efforts, despite the sacrifices, despite all those difficulties that have cost us so much. I think it’s the best way to convey the main message of the book, that we seek freedom, sometimes we seek it with tremendous sacrifice, we seek it with blood, we seek it together, and we seek it through knowledge, because knowledge is a weapon and I think that this is one of the reasons why knowledge is fought with weapons. The book is called “Free”, which means that freedom is the subjective experience of this abstract concept. The book tries to talk about a concept that seems very difficult, very abstract, sometimes it is not well understood what it means, when we have it, when we don’t, but which in fact always appears to us through subjective experiences and that we always look for by comparing these subjective projections”, said the author of the book, among other things.
Lea Ypi is one of the most meaningful figures of the Albanian academic world even though she works outside Albanian. She is Lecturer in Political Theory at the London School of Political Science and Economics and Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University. She graduated in philosophy and literature at La Sapienza University and completed her doctorate at the European University Institute. With her studies, she has received several international awards. Lea Ypi has been chosen among the ten best thinkers in the world, according to Prospect Magazine 2022. She has given over a hundred guest lectures, including the University of Chicago, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Oxford, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt , Berlin, Prague, Uppsala, Barcelona, Oslo, Montreal, Toronto, Beijing, Kyoto and Melbourne. Lea Ypi has recently become known as the author of a book that goes beyond the framework of her primary profession. Her autobiographical book “Free”, has aroused great interest everywhere it has been published and put on the market. The book has been published in English, has had a tremendous success in the international arena and has been highly praised by international critics.
