St_Albanian Literature in English Translation

8/12/2019 St_Albanian Literature in English Translation

1/10

Albanian Literature in English Translation: A Short Survey

Author(s): Robert ElsieSource: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Apr., 1992), pp. 249-257Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Associationand University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European Studies

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4210925.

Accessed: 15/11/2013 04:31

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Modern Humanities Research Associationand University College London, School of Slavonic and East

European Studiesare collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic andEast European Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 151.100.102.160 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 04:31:08 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mhrahttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uclhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uclhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4210925?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4210925?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uclhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uclhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mhra


2/10

SEER, Vol.70, No. 2, April 1992

lbanian Literature n n g l i s hTranslation h o r t S u r v e y

ROBERT ELSIETHOUGH lbania has long since taken its place among the sovereignnations of Europe and enjoys rich cultural traditions, Albanian litera-ture perse remains terrancognitao a great extent for the outside world.This is to the detrimentof the Albanian people on the one hand, whosevital contribution to Europeanculture is worthy of being made knowninternationally, and, on the other, of the foreignreaderwho may wishto delve into the hearts and minds of the Albanians, but for linguisticreasons is unable to do so.Essential in the international diffusion of Albanian literature aretranslations into English which up to now have been lacking both inquantity and quality. While much Albanian literature has been trans-lated into French, and many major and minor works are available inItalian, German and Russian, English-language versions have beensadly missing on bookshelves.At thisjuncture it may be appropriatetotake a brief look at existing English-language publications of Albanianliterature.An early translation into English of what could very broadly bedescribed as Albanian literaturewas publishedin 1596.It is the Historieof GeorgeCastriot,urnamedcanderbeg,ingofAlbinie; ontainingisFamousActes,hisNobleDeedes fArmes ndMemorable ictoriesgainstheTurkesfortheFaith of Christ William Ponsenly, London, I596), a translation byone Z.J. Gentleman from a French version of a Latin work entitledHistoriade vita etgestis Scanderbegi, pirotarum rinceps Rome, c. I508-Io). This 'History of Scanderbeg' was written by the Albanian his-torian Marinus Barletius Scodrensis (c. I450-c. I512), known inAlbanian as Marin Barleti, who after experiencing the Turkish occupa-tion of his native Shkoder at first hand, settled in Padua where hebecame rector of the parish church of St Stephan. The work was widelyread in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and also exists inItalian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish translations,and now of course in Albanian. Though it is not a translation from theAlbanian and is more a work of history than of literature, Barleti's'History of Scanderbeg' is the first Albanian book, if we may call it that,to have been translated into English.Robert Elsie is a writer, critic and translator, and a graduate of UBC (Canada) and theUniversity of Bonn.

This content downloaded from 151.100.102.160 on Fri, 15 Nov 2013 04:31:08 AMAll use subject toJSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/10

250 ROBERT ELSIEAlbanianfolk iteraturehas beenpublishedinthree now rarevolumes:Tricksof Women nd otherAlbanian Tales (New York, I928) by PaulFenimoreCooper,descendantofthe American novelistJames Fenimore

Cooper (I 78-I8 which is translated from French and German;AlbanianWonder ales LovatDickenson,London, 1936)by PostWheelerwith ten fairytales; and Kendime nglisht-ShqiprAlbanian-Englisheader(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, I93 1) bv the noted EnglishAlbanologistand OrientalistMargaretM. Hasluck ( 885-1948). A newvolume of Albanian folk tales is to be published shortly in New Delhi.English translations of written Albanian literature are a relativelyrecentphenomenon. The firsttranslationsbeganto appearin Tirana inthe i96os. Of nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuryAlbanian litera-turein translationone maymentionthelittle volume TheLastLayofBala(Naim Frasheri,Tirana, I967) by the Italo-Albanian (Arberesh)poetand man of letters Gavril DaraJunior (I826-85). This rhvmedEnglishversion ofthe lengthy romantic ballad Kenkaesprasme Bales (Cataizaro,I906), translated by Ali Cungu, is unfortunately more of a bouncyexercise in traditionalpoetics than a readable and faithfulversion of theoriginal. Similarin stvle bv the same translator s Scanderbeg'seturn ndotherPoems(Tirana, I970) of the classic Rilindja poet and ideologistNaim Frasheri (i846-i900). An uncensored version of Ali Cungu'stranslation of Frasheri's Bagetie bujqJsijaBucharest, i886) was pub-lished by the translator's brother, Mahmoud Tsungu, in New Yorkunder the title Frasheri's ongofAlbania(Exposition Press, Smithtown,New York, I98 I). More acceptable from a stylistic point of view is themelodramaticplay Besaby Naim Frasheri'stalentedbrother, Sami BeyFrasheri (I85o-1904), translated into English by Nelo Drizari, formerlecturerin Albanian at Columbia University, as the Pledgeof Honor,anAlbanianTragedyS. F. Vanni Publishers, New York, I945).The worksof the pre-revolutionarypoet Migjeni (I 9 I I-38), pseudo-nym ofMillosh GjergjNikolla, weretranslated ntoEnglish,again by AliCungu, in thevolume Migjeni,SelectedAlbanianongs ndSketchesTirana,I962) .Here, too, excessiveattention torhyme andrhythmhave substan-tially diminished the dramatic force and caustic cynicism of Migjeni'sverseofgrowingsocialawareness.A new translationofMigjeni'sslendervolume of poetry is in preparationfor publication in Tirana. Anotherwriter who marks the transition between pre-war literatureand post-warSocialistRealisms NondaBulka o906-72) whoseSketchesndShortStories Naim Frasheri,Tirana, I984) cover the years I932 to I972.A small number of classics ofAlbanian SocialistRealist literature arenowavailableinEnglish. Some ofthe earlytranslations,while idiomatic,are sadly outdated, though they suffice for the most part to convey ageneral idea of the questionable Albanian prose of the period. ShevqetMusaraj (I 9 I4-86) from theVlore regionis theauthorofthe two-volume



4/10


5/10

252 ROBERT ELSIEseventy poems in this edition published by the Kosovo Association ofLiteraryTranslators were renderedinto English by the Brighton-borntranslatorJohn Hodgson, presently living in Vienna.

Two volumes of the worst of modern poetry from Albania haveappeared in English translation: CommunistSan Francisco, I984) byAgim Gjakova (I935- ),translated byJack Hirschman ofthe Union ofLeft Writers, and MotherAlbania(8 Nentori, Tirana, I985) by DriteroAgolli (I 93I- ) from the Devoll region, now presidentof the AlbanianUnion of Writers and Artists. The latter work, in the translation ofVasil Gjymshana, is one of the many foreign-languageversions of theofficially much lauded NeneShqip riTirana, I974). Agolli has exer-cised a strong influence on the course of contemporaryliterature notonly as a poet but also as a prose writer. Here too, the weakest of hisworks were chosen for translation in Tirana. His novel KomisariMemo(Tirana, I970), translatedas TheBronzeBust(8 Nentori, Tirana, '975'),contains a prototype for the enlightened partisan hero in the figure ofMemo Kovagi. His second novel Njeriumetop(Naim Frasheri, Tirana,1975), translatedas TheManwith heGun 8 Nentori,Tirana,1983),takes up the obligatory partisan theme from a slightly more differen-tiated angle. Sixteen of Agolli's short stories have also been publishedin English in ShortStories8 Nentori, Tirana, I985).The most widely translated and globally recognized Albanianauthor, indeed the only one to have gained an internationalreputation,is Ismail Kadare (I 936- ) from Gjirokaster.Many of his novels, shortstories and verse collections have been highly successful, in particularin French translations, and, after much delay, English translationshave begun to appear over the last few years. The novel for whichKadare is still best known is TheGeneralf theDeadArmy W. H. Allen,London, 197I; Grossman, New York, I 972; 8 Nentori, Tirana, I983;New Amsterdam Books, New York, I990), a translation from theFrench by Derek Coltman of the original Gjenerali ushtrise e vdekur(Tirana, I963). Kadare's second novel The WeddingTirana, I968;Gamma, New York, I972, 1974, I982), a translation by the above-mentioned Ali Cungu of Dasma(Tirana, 1968), took up the theme ofwomen's liberation in Albania at a time when Enver Hoxha's twomajor social campaigns were in full swing:the abolition of religion andthe emancipation of women among a population of predominantlyMoslem origin. Despite its four editions, TheWeddings perhaps theworst of all Kadare's works. In TheCastle(8 Nentori, Tirana, I974;Gamma, New York, I980), a weak translation by Pavli Qesku ofKehtjella(Naim Frasheri, Tirana, 1970), Kadare displays his eminentskills as an historical novelist. The book takes us back to the fifteenthcentury, the age of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg, and, inminute, carefully composed detail, depicts the siege of a medieval



6/10


7/10

254 ROBERT ELSIEof Albanian prose and poetry are to be found in Stuart Mann s novoutdated literary history AlbanianLiterature,an Outlineof Prose. PoetryandDrama (Quaritch, London, I955) and in Arshi Pipa's three-volumeliterarv study TrilogiaAlbanica (Trofenik, Munich, i978). A short andnot entirelv representative selection of Albanian verse has been printedbv the 'Albanian Society' in the brochure Albanlian Poems (IlforcliC. I c79) with works by Dritero Agolli, Vehbi Bala, Nonda Bulka, FaslliCanaj, Aleks Caci, Andon Zako Cajupi, Faik Deda. Nexhat Deveja'Naim Frasheri, Petrit Hajdini, Ismail Kadare, Leke Matrnenga, Mig-jeni. Valentina Mosko, Mexhit Prenpi, Viktor Qurku, Zihni Sako,Llazar Siliqi. Qemal Stafa, Veli Stafa, Musa Vvshka and RezearXhaxhiu. Verse by Migjeni, Lasgush Poradeci, Arshi Pipa, MartinCamaj and Ismail Kadare has also appeared in the American antho-logy Contemporary lbanian Poetry(Dragotti, Naples, c. i985). translatedby the late Bardhyl Pogoni of Western Kentucky Universitv. ThreeAlbanian poets: Martin Camaj, Rrahman Dedaj and Adem Gajtanialso appeared in the anthology Voicesrom Across the Water(JohnstonGreen, Portree, I985) translated by Ewald Osers. Albanian Life, thieabove-mentioned tiny journal of the 'Albanian Society', published byWilliam Bland, also contains short selections of Albanian poets andprose writers from time to time.In Yugoslavia, there are almost as many Albanian speakers as inAlbania itself, which now has a population of over three million.Albanian literature there can no longer be considered a marginalphenomenon, the product of an obscure national minority down in onecorner of the country. Albanian now indeed constitutes the second mostwidelv-spoken language in the Yugoslav federation (after Serbo-Croat). and the Albanian minority, despite the enormous politicalproblems inherent in adjustment, recognition and equality, is slowlybeginning to make its impact felt on Yugoslav culture and Europeanletters. The liberal period from around I968 to I98 I marked an age ofunprecedented literary and cultural development in Kosovo (Alb.Kosova), the centre of the Albanian population. Kosovo was grantedthe status of an autonomous region under the Yugoslav constitution of1974 and Albanians began for the first time to feel that they, might corneto enjov equal rights with the Slavic founders of the Yugoslav State.Since i98i, and in particular since i989, repression by the Serbianauthorities has once again reached the alarming proportions it hadattained under Rankovic. After the abolition by force of the govern-ment of the province, the banning in the summer of I990 of theAlbanian-language daily newspaper Rilindja and of Albanian-languageradio and television broadcasting, and the firing of virtually allAlbanians in management or executive positions, the very future ofAlbanian culture and literature in Kosovo would seem at stake.



8/10

ALBANIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION 255Though literary prose in Albanian is relatively recent in Kosovo, anddrama has long been weak, poetry has always enjoyeda solid traditionboth in Kosovo and in Albania. Publishing statistics reflect this pen-chant forverse: in Tirana about 40 percent of literarypublicationsoverthe past few years have been poetry, and in Prishtina (Alb. Prishtine).capital of Kosovo, up to 8o percent, something quite unimaginable inthe rational West. Acutely awareof the necessity in the present politicalcrisisofovercomingtheisolation,bothwithinYugoslaviaandin Europe,in which the budding literatureof Kosovo is languishing, the KosovoAssociation of Literary Translators has now published a number oftranslations of modern verse from this predominantly Albanian-speaking region. In addition to the above-mentionedvolume of AzemShkreli, the poetry of Kosovo has been published in English in twoanthologies: TheSadBranch DegaepikelluarRilindja, Prishtina, I1979)with two poems each by twenty leading contemporaryKosovo poets:Esad Mekuli, Enver Gjerqeku, Abdylazis Islami, Din Mehmeti, AliMusaj. Besim Bokshi, Adem Gajtani, Muhamed Kerveshi, FahredinGunga. Qerim Ujkani, Azem Shkreli, Rrahman Dedaj, Mirko Gashi,Ali Podrimja,Musa Ramadani, IbrahimKadriu,Beqir Musliu, EqremBasha, Nexhat Halimi and SabriHamiti;andRoadsLeadonlyOneWav,aSurveyfM1lodernoetryfrom osovaRilindja, Prishtina, i988), translatedbyJohn Hodgson, with I39 poems writtenoriginallyin one of the threeofficial languages of Kosovo: Albanian, Serbo-Croat and Turkish.Represented in this anthology are the contemporaryAlbanian poetsEsad Mekuli, Enver Gjerqeku,Azem Shkreli, Rrahman Dedaj, Fah-redin Gunga, Ali Podrimjaand Eqrem Basha. In contrast to TheSadBranch. his collection enables the perspicaciousreaderto grasp at leastsomething of the particularstyle and flavour of each writer.

From the above survey of publications it becomes obvious thatalthough efforts have been made by many writers, translators andpublishers in Albania, Kosovo and abroad, Albanian literatureis stillnot well known in the outside world. Most chapters of Albanianliterature still remain to be discovered at any rate. The worksof early(sixteenth- and seventeenth-century) Albanian authors such as GjonBuzuku (i.. 1555), Leke Matrenga [Luca Matranga] (I567-i6i9),Frang Bardhi [Franciscus Blanchus] (i606-43), Pjeter Budi (i566-I622) and Pjeter Bogdani [Petrus Bogdanus] (c. i63o-89) are con-sidered primarily to be of historical and linguistic interest, althoughthe latter two are of definite literary significance in the Counter-Reformation. Albanian 'Aljamiado'literaturein the Oriental tradition,that is, the poetry of the Bejtexhinj, s still largely unknown even toAlbanians themselves. The strong contribution made to Albanianliterature by Italo-Albanian writersfromJeronimdeRada (I814-I 903)and ZefSerembe (i844-I901) to the contemporaryArberesh poets of



9/10

256 ROBERT ELSIECalabria and Sicily has not yet received the attention of the inter-national reading public to any satisfactory degree, although numerousItalian translations exist. The nineteenth-century 'Rilindja' literatureof romantic nationalism which even today is of primary significancetoforeigners for an understanding of the Albanian mentality is notavailable in English translation, and nor are the many fine classicalpoets of the early twentieth century, such as Ndre Mjeda (i866-I937),Andon Zako Qajupi (I866-i930), Asdreni (I872-I947), LasgushPoradeci (I899-I987), and the now banished writers of the pre-warCatholic tradition, in particular Gjergj Fishta (I87I-I940), oncelauded as the Albanian 'national poet'.

No foreign reader can gain even the most basic overview of thehistorical development of Albanian letters and of present literaryproduction in Albania and Kosovo on the basis of works currentlyavailable in English translations. While readers of French, and to alesser extent of Italian, German and Russian may still have a certainadvantage, they too have only sporadic access to Albanian literature.The relative abundance of translations into French and the compara-tively superior quality thereof derive from the long cultural relationswhich Albanians have enjoyed with France and French civilization. Atthe turn of the century, Faik Konica's (I875-1942) influential periodi-cal Albania was published in Brussels and later in London, and EnverHoxha (i908-85), who exercised a strong influence on all spheres ofAlbanian life, lived for several years in France and Belgium. Since then,a great number of Albanian and Kosovar scholars have studied inFrance so that the French language has been able to maintain itsposition in Albania as the principal vehicle of scholarship and officialinternational communication, and, to an extent, of diplomacy. Theliterary quarterly of the Albanian Union of Writers and Artists, LesLettresAlbanaises, has been published since i 978 in French only. Thesefactors, compounded no doubt by the extremely difficult course ofAlbania's political relations with the two major English-speakingnations, the United States and the United Kingdom, which resulted inan unfortunate standstill in cultural exchange, have led to a definitepriority for literary translations into French rather than into English.In recent years, literary translations from the Albanian have perhapsrightly focused on contemporary writing, the cultural expression of thepeople of Albania and Kosovo of today. Interest in contemporaryAlbanian literature in English translation has, however, been ham-pered to a considerable extent by a lack of linguistic finesse on the partof the translators and by the dense political filter imposed on all aspectsof public life in Tirana. The early translations into English published inTirana were of necessity made by Albanians who had a very limitedaccess to the English-speaking world. Most of these untrained,



10/10

ALBANIAN LITERATURE IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION 257although no doubt talented, translators had never been permitted totravel abroad and learn English thoroughly. As a result, their trans-lations in very many cases were so disconcerting and idiomaticallyoutdated that they led to the unfortunate consequence of discouragingpeople from reading Albanian literature at all. This stage of develop-ment, which has had a long-term detrimental effect on the diffusion ofAlbanian culture abroad, has been overcome to a certain extent, butmuch remains to be done. While most current translations are palat-able in style, and endeavour to convey the original in a readablecontemporary language, they are still often far from literary sophis-tication. One can in addition not overlook the fact that contemporaryliterature in Albania (though not in Kosovo) has been dominated forthe last forty years by the Marxist political message and by an oftenheavy-handed concentration on certain themes such as the partisanheroism of the 'National Liberation War' and the building of socialismand socialist awareness. Most of the works chosen for translation inTirana reflect this proclivity, which, to say the least, has not alwaysbeen to the taste of the broad masses of the Western reading public.For the first time, however, in the history of Albanian literature,there are, now, in addition to poetry (at which the Albanians havealways been masters), a number of fine prose works which could beread abroad with great interest. Ismail Kadare is a case in point. Hisworks have proved extremely popular in French-speaking countries, asuccess due in large part to the talents of the translator Jusuf Vrioni,while in other regions of the globe he still remains to be discovered. Thespectrum of contemporary Albanian literature is much wider than theavailability of existing works in translation would indicate, and it is tobe hoped that good translations will soon reflect this diversity.

St_Albanian Literature in English Translation

Documents

Transcript of St_Albanian Literature in English Translation