Rruga për në Evropë. Konceptualizimi metaforik i procesit të integrimit evropian në diskursin politik Shqipëtar
Since the demise of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the notion of Europe has assumed a prominent role within political discourses in Albania. The interpretation of this concept has exhib-ited a degree of fluidity, its meaning evolving according to the prevailing context and political cir-cumstances in which it has been invoked. Nevertheless, one consistent thread running through these varied usages is the portrayal of Europe as an inescapable destiny for Albania. During the most recent term of the socialist government led by Prime Minister Edi Rama a notable shift in the discourse con-cerning the European Union has been noticed. The EU is depicted as a fortress, a demanding parental figure, a capricious bride, a dissatisfied professor, and even abstractly alluded to through references to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot’. This paper’s aim is to delve into the construction of the EU concept within contemporary political discourses in Albania, with a specific focus on Prime Minister Edi Rama. The study draws upon the methodologies and practices of Critical Discourse Analysis and Conceptual Metaphor Theory to explore the dynamics of power relations conveyed through the lin-guistic analysis of selected textual material.