The history of Albanian literature, read differently

In this Prishtina Talks presentation, the professor of Albanian language and literature Besnik Jaha — researcher, poet, lecturer at the madrasa and at the faculty of Islamic sciences, publishing manager at the Bardbox house, and a doctoral candidate in the field of Albanian literature — carries out a critical review of the history of Albanian literature as it has been compiled to this day and as it is taught in the school textbooks.

Jaha argues that the existing histories of Albanian literature have systematically shut out whole periods and whole authors — above all the literature of the bejtexhinj and the Muslim authors — producing a narrow canon that does not reflect the real wealth of the Albanian literary heritage. He examines the three prevailing periodisations, which begin with Gjon Buzuku's “Meshari” (1555) as the point of origin and end the romantic period with the death of Naim Frashëri, leaving out long pre-modern stretches and important authors along the way.

Jaha analyses the main works of Albanian literary historiography — from Justin Rrota's “Literatura shqype” (1930) to the histories of Sabri Hamiti and Rexhep Kodra, down to the textbooks in use today — and identifies the large gaps: the period before the “Meshari”, the literature of the bejtexhinj as an entire period passed over, and the Muslim authors, who are either classified as “Islamists” and ignored or included only as exceptions. In the second half he proposes a new framework of periodisation that takes in the whole Albanian literary heritage with no ideological or religious filter, and argues that a genuine national history of literature has to acknowledge every one of its components.

Some of the points covered: 📌 The three prevailing periodisations of Albanian literary history 📌 Buzuku's “Meshari” (1555) as the traditionally fixed point of origin 📌 The systematic exclusion of the bejtexhinj from the literary canon 📌 Justin Rrota's “Literatura shqype” as the first great history 📌 Muslim authors as “Islamists”, or simply ignored 📌 A critical analysis of the histories of Sabri Hamiti and Rexhep Kodra 📌 The gaps before the “Meshari” and after Naim Frashëri 📌 A proposal for an all-embracing periodisation of Albanian literature

📍 Prishtina Talks