Permanent revolution: The image of the class enemy in the literature of socialist realism in Albania

This paper examines the construction of the “class enemy” in Albanian socialist realist literature through a critical discourse analysis lens. Under Enver Hoxha’s leadership, the Party-State politicized aesthetics to convince citizens that Albanian society was ostensibly unified, with any divisions attributable to social elements—kulaks, bourgeoisie, and clerics—linked to the old order or to imperialist forces. Drawing on Arendt’s concept of permanent revolution and Lefort’ s notion of social prophylaxis, the paper demonstrates how the Party continuously produced the “enemy of the people,” not only by reimagining genuine opponents in fictional terms, but also by inventing new adversaries whenever ideological expediency demanded it. Waves of exclusion, persecution, and terror periodically shook the country, reaching even the upper echelons of the Party of People of Albania. Legitimated by literature and other artistic productions fully subjugated to Party directives, these purges depicted enemies as parasites or remnants warranting eradication. Through a close reading of key socialist realist works published between 1945 and 1989, the analysis highlights how specific rhetorical and narrative strategies—derogatory epithets, dehumanizing imagery, and insistence on sabotage—reinforced the totalitarian discourse of vigilance, suspicion, and annihilation. It further explores how economic position, social standing, and family background became markers for identifying the “enemy,” shaping the fates reserved for such figures. The study concludes that Albanian socialist realism texts not only portrayed an “evil Other” but also served as a disciplinary apparatus in the Foucauldian sense: they rationalized ongoing purges and bolstered the state’s full-spectrum control over politics, culture, and society. Ultimately, this literary deployment of the “enemy” concept sustained the Party’s permanent revolution narrative, perpetuating an atmosphere of fear and legitimizing the regime’s authoritarian measures.