Robert Elsie
Studies in modern Albanian literature and culture
East European Monographs CCCLXXIX
ISBN 0-88033-252-9
East European Monographs, Boulder
Columbia
University Press, New York 1996
188 pp.
PREFACE
Albanias long-standing isolation,
and in particular the half a century of surrealist rule under
the ever-vigilant Albanian Party of Labour, had an extremely
negative impact on intellectual and cultural exchange. In Albania,
these long dark years created a conspicuous lack of objective
knowledge about the outside world, and in the Western world,
they created an equally conspicuous lack of information about
Albania, a country which, for most people, had ceased to exist
until tens of thousands of refugees suddenly washed up onto the
shores of southern Italy in 1991.
This volume comprises a selection of
critical writings and reviews devoted to contemporary Albanian
literature and culture as seen from a distant, but hopefully
not blurred perspective. The primary aim of this work, originally
published over the last ten years, has been to create an awareness
for Albanian literature and Albanian culture at the international
level.
Although many of these publications circulated
among writers and intellectuals in Albania at the time of their
issue, very few were ever republished there under the dictatorship,
and those which were translated and printed in the Tirana literary
newspaper Drita,were abridged for obvious political reasons.
While perusing the present collection
of literary reviews, the reader may wonder why certain works
were chosen for review and others were not. I can offer no satisfactory
reply. In general, it has always been my endeavour to present
to the Western reading public, works of Albanian literature which
may be seen to be of major cultural significance. The books reviewed
here are, however, obviously only a selection of many which could
have been chosen.
With the collapse of communism in Europe,
the American literary journal World Literature Today
devoted its issue of spring 1991 to Literature and revolution
in Eastern Europe. In addition to articles on literary
developments in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, an
article on Albanian writing was included. This article, which
I entitled Evolution and revolution in modern Albanian
literature, offered the first substantial survey of modern
Albanian literature since the fifties to be published in English.
In addition to the above-mentioned introductory
article and the fifty-seven literary reviews, I have included
a short and perhaps rather subjective essay on the Kosovo situation,
a tragedy which gnaws at the souls of us all.
In conclusion, I would like to express
my gratitude to those who have assisted me over the past years
in my endeavours to present Albanian literature and culture to
the English-speaking world. Many thanks go, in particular, to
Flutura Greva in Washington, the once faithful Muse of the Writers
Union in Tirana, for helping me with books and material.
Robert
Elsie
Eifel Mountains, Germany, autumn 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Preface
- Evolution and revolution in modern Albanian literature
- A survey of recent publications
Dhimitër S. Shuteriqi (ed.)
History of Albanian literature [Historia e letërsisë
shqiptare], Tirana 1983
Alexandre Zotos (ed.)
Anthology of Albanian poetry [Anthologie de la poésie
albanaise], Tirana 1983
Nebil Duraku (ed.)
The writers of Kosovo 43-83 [Shkrimtarët
e Kosovës 43-83], Prishtina 1984
Ismail Kadare
Doruntine [Qui a ramené Doruntine?], Paris 1986
Ismail Kadare
Epoch of writings [Koha e shkrimeve], Tirana 1986
Ismail Kadare
Chronicle in stone, London 1987
Lasgush Poradeci
The death of the pelican [Vdekja e nositit], Prishtina
1986
Ismail Kadare
The great winter [Der große Winter], Kiel 1987
Ali Podrimja
Happy ending [Fund i gëzuar], Prishtina 1988
Ismail Kadare
The caravan of veils [Die Schleierkarawane], Berlin 1988
Mensur Raifi (ed.)
Roads lead only one way. A survey of modern poetry from Kosova,
Prishtina 1988
Teodor Laço
All the rivers flow [Të gjithë lumenjtë rrjedhin],
Prishtina 1988
Ismail Kadare
The concert [Koncert në fund të dimrit], Tirana
1988
Din Mehmeti
Neither on earth nor in heaven [As në tokë as në
qiell], Prishtina 1988
Namik Ressuli
Albanian literature, Boston 1988
Ismail Kadare
Aeschylus or the eternal loser [Eschyle ou léternel
perdant], Paris 1988
Koço Bihiku (ed.)
Studies in Albanian literature 2. Problems of the Albanian literature
of socialist realism [Studime për letërsinë
shqiptare 2. Probleme të letërsisë shqiptare të
realizmit socialist], Tirana 1988
Bardhyl Londo
Only Ithaca [Vetëm Itaka], Prishtina 1989
Mimoza Ahmeti
Especially tomorrow [Sidomos nesër], Tirana 1989
Rrahman Dedaj
Poetry [Poezi], Tirana 1989
Neshat Tozaj
The knives [Thikat], Tirana 1989
Sabri Hamiti
Literary self-knowledge [Vetëdija letrare], Prishtina
1989
Adem Demaçi
The snakes of vendetta [Gjarpinjtë e gjakut], Prishtina
1990
Natasha Lako
Quiet nature [Natyrë e qetë], Tirana 1990
Agim Vinca
Poetry hours [Orët e poezisë], Prishtina 1990
Ismail Kadare
Broken April, New York 1990
Dritëro Agolli
The splendour and fall of comrade Zylo [Splendeur et décadence
du camerade Zulo], Paris 1990
Ismail Kadare
The H dossier [Dosja H], Tirana 1990
Martin Camaj
Selected Poetry, New York 1990
Ismail Kadare
The General of the dead army, New York 1991
Migjeni
Chronicles of a Northern city and other prose [Chroniques
dune ville du Nord et autres proses], Paris 1990
Ismail Kadare
Invitation to the studio [Ftesë në studio],
Tirana 1990;
Albanian spring. Chronicle, lettres, reflections [Printemps
albanais. Chronique, lettres, réflexions], Paris 1991;
From one December to the next. Chronicle, correspondence, reflections
[Nga një dhjetor në tjetrin. Kronikë, këmbim
letrash, përsiatje], Paris 1991
Rexhep Ismajli (ed.)
Modern Arbëresh poetry [Poezia e sotme arbëreshe],
Prishtina 1990
Ismail Kadare
The monster [Përbindëshi], Tirana 1991;
The monster [Le monstre], Paris 1991
Ismail Kadare
The weight of the cross [Pesha e kryqit], Paris 1991;
Invitation to the writers studio, followed by The weight
of the cross [Invitation à latelier de lécrivain
suivi de Le Poids de la croix], Paris 1991
Xhevahir Spahiu
A mad age [Kohë e krisur], Tirana 1991
Shaip Beqiri
The challenge of genius: Kadare, exile, Kosovo [Sfida e gjeniut.
Kadare, ekzili, Kosova], Prishtina 1991
Arshi Pipa
Contemporary Albanian literature, Boulder 1991
Kasëm Trebeshina
The season of seasons [Stina e stinëve], Prishtina
1991
Gjergj Fishta
The highland lute [Lahuta e malsisë], Rome 1991
Pal Duka-Gjini
The life and works of Gjergj Fishta [Jeta dhe veprat e Gjergj
Fishtës], Rome 1992
Besnik Mustafaj
A summer of no return [Un été sans retour],
Arles 1992
Ismail Kadare
The pyramid [La Pyramide], Paris 1992
Ferdinand Laholli
Enough of this bitter paradox [Mjaft ky paradoks i hidhur],
Tirana 1992
Fatos Arapi
We, the grief of lights [Ne, pikëllimi i dritave],
Tirana 1993
Ali Podrimja
The smile in a cage [Buzëqeshja në kafaz. Das
Lächeln im Käfig], Klagenfurt 1993
Visar Zhiti
The memory of the air [Kujtesa e ajrit], Tirana 1993
Zejnullah Rrahmani
The Albanian national journey [Udhëtimi arbdhetar],
Prishtina 1992
Jorgo Bllaci
The voices of the night [Zërat e natës], Tirana
1993
Ismail Kadare
A moonlit night [Clair de lune], Paris 1993;
The Great Wall, followed by the Blind Firman [La Grande Muraille,
suivi de Le Firman aveugle], Paris 1993
Dritëro Agolli
The belated pilgrim [Pelegrini i vonuar], Tirana 1993
Lazër & Josef Radi
The walls of twilight [Muret e muzgut], Tirana 1993
Rexhep Qosja
Death comes with such eyes [La mort me vient de ces yeux-là],
Paris 1994
Eqrem Basha
The snails march [Marshi e kërmillit], Peja
1994
Hasan Hasani
Lexicon of Albanian writers 1501-1990 [Leksikon i shkrimtarëve
shqiptarë 1501-1990], Prishtina 1994
Fatos Lubonja
The final slaughter [Ploja e mbrame], Tirana 1994
Azem Shkreli
I know a word of stone. Poems [Ich weiß ein Wort von
Stein. Gedichte], Klagenfurt 1993
Kim Mehmeti
Fatushas fate [Fati i Fatushes], Tetovo 1994
- The last Albanian waiter
Impressions from a journey to Kosovo, 1992
- About the author
- Index
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