Programmatic Formulations in the Press of Shkodra (1910–1920): Identity and Public Self-Positioning

This study examines programmatic formulations in periodicals published in Shkodra between 1910 and 1920, with particular attention to mottos, slogans, and editorial statements accompanying newspapers and journals of the period. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, these formulations are treated not merely as decorative or identifying features, but as meaningful textual units through which periodicals articulated editorial orientations and constructed public identities. The corpus consists of selected Shkodra-based periodicals with political, social, cultural, and religious profiles published during the same period. The analysis demonstrates that programmatic formulations fulfilled multiple discursive functions, including the articulation of editorial mission, moral values, national rights, and political objectives related to self-governance and independence. The findings suggest that these formulations operated not only as identifiers of publications but also as condensed discursive expressions through which periodicals constructed institutional identities, legitimized ideological positions, and communicated forms of public self-representation in relation to the political and national concerns of the time. In this regard, the study contributes to a broader understanding of the Albanian press not only as a historical source, but also as a site for the production and circulation of political and cultural meaning. By foregrounding programmatic formulations as an object of discourse analytical inquiry, the study highlights their significance in illuminating the relationship between editorial identity, ideological positioning, and public communication in the Albanian press of the early twentieth century.