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Ismail Kadare

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Ismail Kadare at a reading in Zurich
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Ismail Kadare at a reading in Zurich

Ismail Kadare is a world-renowned Albanian writer. He was born on January 28, 1936 in Gjirokastër, Albania. He first studied at the Faculty of History and Philology at the University of Tirana and later at the Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow. He affirmed himself as literary talent early, in the 60's and his works represent much of the contemporary Albanian literature. His main interests are: the contemporary Albanian society, the communist regime and Albanian old traditions (kanun).

In 1990, just before the fall of communism in Albania, Kadare sought asylum in France, stating that "Dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible... The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship." For the last ten years he has divided his time between France and Albania. While referred to as a dissident author by some, his status as such has been contested by others.

Contents

Dissidence

There are different opinions on whether Kadare was a dissident during the communist period. But in the early days of democracy he was accused as the man of Enver Hoxha.

Against

Some see his poetry, as well as prose, as filled with verses serving the Communist Party and praising Enver Hoxha, the dictator of Albania, and "Dimri i madh" [The Great Winter] being one of the literary monuments to Hoxha in person. Kadare had the support of the leader of the communist state of Albania, Enver Hoxha, who helped him throughout his career. Moreover Kadare served as Albania's main PR writer during the era of communism, for defending the regime and legitimizing it amongst people. Moreover he was deputy for the regime in its puppet parliament.

For

Other believe that some of his works, such as The Palace of dreams make strong parallels to show the evilness of the communist regime of Albania. In a political and literary environment completely and fiercely controlled by the state, Kadare's writing was for many the only window to anything approaching resistance. Having been sentenced to temporary exile, he was forced to produce some works praising the regime and paying lip-service to its "achievements." Yet, in many other works, Kadare purported to show that Albania's greatness extended beyond the Communist regime and that life could be beautiful without the (failing) Communist ideal.

Kadare himself has been [quoted] saying he never claimed to be a dissident, and that "Dissidence was a position no one could occupy, even for a few days, without facing the firing squad. On the other hand, my books themselves constitute a very obvious form of resistance." He has referred to "The Great Winter" as "the price he had to pay for his freedom".

Recognition

Kadare is published in over forty countries all over the world. He has been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature and in 2005 he received the inaugural Man Booker International Prize. Some of his greatest works (some published in France) include:

Books

External links

 

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