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Superstitious beliefs against the evil eye are the reason behind the hanging of gloomy and macabre Albanian scarecrows, known as dordolec or kukull. These unusual puppets, visible outside houses, and other buildings, often take tourists by surprise; for the inhabitants, instead, they are absolutely normal. What are dordolec, exactly? And what do they protect from?
What are dordolec?
In translation from Albanian, a dordolec means a scarecrow or a doll. Reference is made to all those puppets, from dolls to teddy bears, to stuffed animals of various kinds, not necessarily anthropomorphic, which are hanged outside Albanian properties. They are easily available objects, purchasable in common toy shops or flea markets. It is not uncommon to see them hanging, generally, on balconies, fences, roofs, but also on trees or on vine threads.
Furthermore, the custom linked to dordolec is more widespread in the southern parts of the country. These dolls, often with an unsightly appearance, are used as defense tools against the evil eye. According to some beliefs, they serve to absorb the negative energies coming from envious looks, thus safeguarding owners of houses, buildings, or properties, from them.
A shield against the evil eye
Therefore, the function of the dordolec is precisely to protect against the envy, a threat that is believed to lead to concrete dangers, real hexes on the one’s home, properties, and even children. These scarecrows thus constitute shields against all this negativity. By attracting the attention of passers-by, they act as sources of distraction by deflecting and absorbing their negative thoughts.
The purpose of the scarecrow-dordolec, in fact, is not to instill fear, but to capture the attention of passers-by and divert them from coveting and envying what does not belong to them.
The popularity of hanging puppets
In recent years, there has been a strong return of this custom in Albania, although not homogeneously throughout the country. According to the university professor Kristin Peterson-Bidoshi, author of the interesting article The “Dordolec”: Albanian House Dolls and the Evil Eye, a study focused precisely on these peculiar scarecrows and their link with the Albanian beliefs related to the evil eye, the re-emergence of the dordolec would also be intertwined with precise social and economic factors.
The period of democratic and economic transition in Albania, which began in the 90s, has, in fact, favoured the return of dordolec. The post-communist phase of the country has profoundly changed the pre-existing political and economic situation. From policies based on sharing and equitable distribution of goods, and on social equality, things moved on to a new model, close to the Western one.
Albania embraced the privatization of assets, which exacerbated social differences, resulting in a growing stratification and tension between the different classes. Thus, the conditions for “envying” the neighbour’s goods would have risen, favouring the re-emergence of dordolec.
Behind a custom that could probably be considered bizarre for many, there exist, therefore, an explanation that is not at all obvious and trivial.
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