Abstract

An aging Albanian Little Red Riding-Hood finds herself a lonely widow after having married and then divorced, one after another, the Yugoslax Wolf, the Soviet Bear and the Chinese Dragon. Each divorce entailed a thorough housecleaning, to make sure that the new partner, upon waking in the morning, would not risk stepping into the slippers of the preceding husband. Partial housecleanings have also occurred, involving removal of furniture and other belongings which, upon closer inspection, were identified as magic objects furtively introduced by the Western Ogre, lurking in die distance and waiting for his turn. We can thus speak of purges related to four basic heresies: Titoism, Soviet social-imperialism, Maoism and Eurocommunism