Ismail Kadare
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Ismail Kadare (; spelled Ismaïl Kadaré in French; born on 28 January 1936) is an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. He is a leading international literary figure and intellectual. He focused on poetry until the publication of his first novel, '' The General of the Dead Army'', which made him famous internationally. In 1992, Kadare was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca; in 1998, the
Herder Prize The Herder Prize (german: Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and So ...
; in 2005, the inaugural
Man Booker International Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...
; in 2009, the Prince of Asturias Award of Arts; and in 2015, the
Jerusalem Prize The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously k ...
. He was awarded the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2019, and the
Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious int ...
in 2020. In 1996, France made him a foreign associate of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of France, and in 2016, he was a ''
Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
'' recipient. He has been nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
15 times. Since the 1990s, Kadare has been asked by both major political parties in Albania to become a consensual President of Albania, but has declined. His nominating juror for the Neustadt Prize wrote: "Kadare is the successor of
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
. No one since Kafka has delved into the infernal mechanism of totalitarian power and its impact on the human soul in as much hypnotic depth as Kadare." His writing has also been compared to that of
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
,
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
,
Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
,
Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himsel ...
, and Balzac. Living in Albania during a time of strict censorship, Kadare devised cunning stratagems to outwit Communist censors who had banned three of his books, using devices such as parable, myth, fable, folk-tale, allegory, and legend, sprinkled with double-entendre, allusion, insinuation, satire, and coded messages. In 1990, to escape the Communist regime and its ''Sigurimi'' secret police he defected to Paris. His works have been published in 45 languages. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that he was a national figure in Albania comparable in popularity perhaps to
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
in the United States, and that "there is hardly an Albanian household without a Kadare book." Kadare is regarded by some as one of the greatest writers and intellectuals of the 20th and 21st centuries, and as a universal voice against totalitarianism. He is the husband of author Helena Kadare, and the father of United Nations Ambassador, and UN General Assembly Vice President,
Besiana Kadare Besiana Kadare is an Albanian diplomat. She served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 75th session, and A ...
.


Early and personal life

Ismail Kadare was born in the Kingdom of Albania during the reign of King Zog I. He was born in
Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea ...
, an historic
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
fortress mountain city of tall stone houses in
southern Albania Southern Albania ( sq, Shqipëria jugore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. This ethnographical territory is sometimes referred to as ''Toskeria'' ( sq, Toskëria). It consists of five counties: Berat, Fier, Gjirokastër, Korç ...
, a dozen miles from the border with Greece. He lived there on a crooked, narrow street known as "Lunatics' Lane". His parents were Halit Kadare, a post office employee, and Hatixhe
Dobi Dobi is a family name (surname) originating in Hungary. It is mostly prevalent in Hungary, Albania, Serbia and the United States. Etymology The surname may originate from the Hungarian personal name ''Dabó'' (Transylvanian form ''Dobó''), o ...
, a homemaker, who had married in 1933 when his mother was 17 years old.Peter R. Prifti
"Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer"
''Britannica''. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
On his mother's side of the family, his great-grandfather was a
Bejtexhi The Bejtexhinj (in Albanian sing. ''bejtexhi'', pl. ''bejtexhinj''; from tr, beyte meaning "poem"), were popular bards of the Muslim tradition, literally meaning "couplet makers". It means the same in the Albanian literature, firstly muslim poet ...
of the
Bektashi Order The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
, known as Hoxhë Dobi. Though he was born into a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
family, Kadare himself was an atheist. Three years after Kadare was born, Italian Prime Minister
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...
's troops invaded Albania and ousted the Albanian King. Italian rule followed. Kadare was nine years old when Italian troops were withdrawn, and the communist-led
People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
was established. Kadare attended primary and secondary schools in Gjirokastër. He then studied Languages and Literature at the Faculty of History and Philology of the
University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of f ...
. In 1956, Kadare received a teacher's diploma. He lived in
Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
, Albania, until he became a resident of France in 1990.Hon. Eliot L. Engel of New York in the House of Representatives (14 April 2015)
"PAYING TRIBUTE TO ISMAIL KADARE, Albanian Political Exile from France and Winner of the Jerusalem Prize for 2015,"
''Congressional Record''.
His Tirana apartment was converted into a museum in 2019, showcasing the work and life of the author. He is married to Albanian author Helena Gushi, and has two daughters. His daughter
Besiana Kadare Besiana Kadare is an Albanian diplomat. She served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 75th session, and A ...
is the Albanian Ambassador to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
, Albania's Ambassador to
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
, and a Vice President of the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
for its 75th session.


Literary career


Early literary career

At age 11, Kadare read
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''. He recalled years later: "Because I did not yet understand that I could simply purchase it in a bookstore, I copied much of it by hand and took it home. My childhood imagination pushed me to feel like a co-author of the play." He soon became entranced by literature. At age 12, Kadare wrote his first short stories, which were published in the ''
Pionieri ''Pionieri '' was a monthly magazine published in communist Albania, by the Pioneers of Enver organization, also called Central Committee of the Union of Albanian Working Youth. The magazine, although politicized, is remembered to have influenced ...
'' (''Pioneer'') journal in Tirana, a communist magazine for children. In 1954 he published his first collection of poems, ''Frymëzime djaloshare'' (''Boyish inspirations'')''.'' In 1957 he published a poetry collection entitled ''Ëndërrimet'' (''Dreams''). At 17, Kadare won a poetry contest in Tirana, which allowed him to travel to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
to study at the
Maxim Gorky Literature Institute The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow. History The insti ...
. He studied literature during the Khrushchev era, doing post-graduate work from 1958 to 1960. His training had as its goal for him to become a communist writer and "engineer of human souls," to help construct a culture of the new Albania. In Moscow he met writers united under the banner of
Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
—a style of art characterized by the idealized depiction of revolutionary communist values, such as the emancipation of the
proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
. Kadare also had the opportunity to read contemporary Western literature, including works by Jean Paul Sartre,
Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
, and
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
. Kadare, however, rejected the canons of Socialist Realism, and committed himself internally to write opposed to dogmatism. He also cultivated contempt for the ''
nomenklatura The ''nomenklatura'' ( rus, номенклату́ра, p=nəmʲɪnklɐˈturə, a=ru-номенклатура.ogg; from la, nomenclatura) were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key admin ...
'', an attitude which, he later wrote, was the product of his youthful arrogance rather than of considered political opposition. During his time in the Soviet Union, Kadare published a collection of poetry in Russian, and in 1959 also wrote his first novel, ''Qyteti pa reklama'' (''The City Without Signs''), a critique of socialist careerism in Albania. Kadare returned home in October 1960 on Albanian orders, before Albania's breaking of political and economic ties with the USSR. He lived for the next 30 years in Tirana, in an apartment which now houses the Ismail Kadare House museum and archives. He worked as a journalist, became editor-in-chief of the literary periodical ''Les Lettres Albanaises'' (''Albanian Letters''; published simultaneously in Albanian and French), and then contributed to the literary review '' Drita'' for five years, while embarking on a literary career of his own. At that time Kadare had a reputation for poetry. In 1961 he published a volume of poetry entitled ''Shekulli im'' (''My Century''). His work was particularly popular with Albanian youth. His future wife Helena, then a schoolgirl, wrote a fan letter to the young writer, which eventually led to their marriage in 1963.Ke, Jing (2013)
"The four others in I. Kadare's works: a study of the Albanian national identity,"
Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 730.
Kadare wrote one of his earliest pieces in the 1960s, a poem entitled "The Princess Argjiro." Locally inspired, the poem transforms the centuries-old myth of the legendary 15th century Princess Argjiro, who was said to have jumped off Gjirokastër Castle along with her child so as to avoid being captured by the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
.Fatmir Terziu
"WRITING THE DICTATORSHIP: Reuse of Myth in Ismail Kadare's Novels"
/ref> The poem was denounced and an official reader's report was commissioned, which maintained he had committed historical and ideological errors. Kadare was criticized implicitly for disregarding socialist literary principles. In 1962, Kadare published an excerpt from his first novel as a short story under the title "Coffeehouse Days" in a communist youth magazine. It was then banned immediately after publication, contributing to his reputation for "decadence". Due to this criticism and advice from his friends, Kadare did not publish the full novel until 1990. In 1963, at 26 years of age, Kadare published his novel '' The General of the Dead Army'', about an army general and priest who, 20 years after World War II, are sent to Albania to locate the remains of fallen Italian soldiers and return them to Italy for burial. The novel faced criticism by Albanian literary critics for flouting socialist ideals and for its dark tone. The novel was thus in stark contrast to those of other Albanian writers of the time, who glorified the Communist revolution. The novel inspired three films: Luciano Tovoli's 1983 '' The General of the Dead Army'' (''Il generale dell'armata morta'') in Italian starring
Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
and
Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...
,
Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...
's 1989 ''
Life and Nothing But ''Life and Nothing But'' (french: La vie et rien d'autre) is a 1989 French film directed by Bertrand Tavernier. It was inspired by the novel by Albanian writer Ismail Kadare titled '' The General of the Dead Army''. Synopsis Set in October 1920 ...
'' (''La Vie et rien d’autre'') in French starring Philippe Noiret, and
Dhimitër Anagnosti Dhimitër Anagnosti (born 23 January 1936) is an Albanian film director of the 20th century. He was a member of the Parliament of Albania in the 1990s and a Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. For his contribution in film, he received the Peo ...
's 1989 ''
The Return of the Dead Army ''The Return of the Dead Army'' ( sq, Kthimi i ushtrisë së vdekur) is a 1989 black comedy Albanian film, directed by Dhimitër Anagnosti and based on the acclaimed novel '' The General of the Dead Army'' by Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Plot ...
'' (''Kthimi i ushtrisë së vdekur'') in Albanian starring
Bujar Lako Bujar Lako (1 June 1926 – 15 December 1996) was an Albanian actor. Filmography References External links * People from Korçë 20th-century Albanian male actors 21st-century Albanian male actors Albanian male film actors Albani ...
. Though it is his best-known novel, and Kadare views it as "good literature", he does not view it as his best work. In 1964 he wrote ''Përse mendohen këto male'' (''What are these mountains thinking about?''). His next short novel, ''The Monster'' (''Përbindëshi''), published in the literary magazine ''Nëntori'' in 1965, was labeled "decadent" and banned upon publication; it was Kadare's second ban. By the mid-1960s, the cultural censorship thaw of the early part of the decade was over, and conditions changed dramatically. In 1967, Albania launched its own
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
. Kadare was exiled for two years along with other Albanian writers to
Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...
in the countryside, to learn about life alongside the peasants and workers. Two Albanian dramatists were at the time also sentenced to eight years in prison each. Albanian writers and artists encountered indifference from the world outside Albania, which did not speak in their support.


International breakthrough (1970–80)

'' The General of the Dead Army'' was Kadare's first great success outside Albania. The French translation by
Isuf Vrioni Jusuf Vrioni (16 March 1916 – 1 June 2001) was an Albanian athlete, translator, diplomat, and Albanian ambassador to UNESCO. Vrioni was born in Corfu, Greece, on 16 March 1916, son of Ilias Bey Vrioni. He spent his youth in Corfu and later in ...
, published in 1970 in Paris by publisher Albin Michel, led to Kadare's international breakthrough. In the ironic novel, an Italian general and Italian Army priest return to Albania 20 years after World War II, to find and bring back to Italy for final burial there the bodies of Italian soldiers killed in the war. The French publishing house published the novel without Kadare's knowledge or permission, as Albania at the time was not a signatory to the Universal Copyright Convention and there was no
copyright protection A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
on the text. Once the book appeared in France, it was translated into most European languages. By 1977 it had been translated into over 20 languages, with the Albanian communist press hailing it as "one of the most successful translations of the world of the 70s." After the success of the novel in the West in 1970, the older generation of Albanian writers and dogmatic literary critics became extremely embittered against the "darling of the West": "This novel was published by the bourgeoisie and this cannot be accepted", said a report by the Albanian
secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic ...
. Kadare's enemies in the secret police and the old guard of the Albanian Politburo referred to him as an agent of the West, which was one of the most dangerous accusations that could be made in Albania. However, Kadare continued to publish in his home country and became widely promoted in his home country, with frequent references in the Albanian press to new releases and translations of his work, with Kadare being hailed as a "hero of the new Albanian literature". Kadare's work was described as "treat ngmany problems preoccupying" Albanian society, and as "mak nguse of the revolution as the organizing element of his writing." He was also lauded as having a "revolutionary drive" which "keeps pace with life and fights against old ideas." In 1971 Kadare published the novel '' Chronicle in Stone'', in which the narrator is a young Albanian boy whose old stone city hometown is caught up in World War II, and successively occupied by Greek, Italian, and German forces. The novel has been described as " magic realism."
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
wrote in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', that it was "a thoroughly enchanting novel — sophisticated and accomplished in its poetic prose and narrative deftness, yet drawing resonance from its roots in one of Europe's most primitive societies." The book was heavily publicized in the Albanian press, both domestically and in magazines aimed at promoting Albanian socialism and culture to an international audience, such as ''New Albania''. Throughout the 1970s, Kadare began to work more with myths, legends, and the distant past, often drawing allusions between the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
and present-day Albania. At this time, he also worked as an editor and contributor to ''New Albania'', an arts and culture magazine which sought to promote Albanian socialism to a worldwide audience. In 1970, Kadare published ''Kështjella'' (''The Castle'' or ''The Siege'') which was celebrated in both Albania and Western Europe, seeing a translation into French in 1972. It detailed war between Albanians and Ottomans during the time of
Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...
. In 1978 he published the novel '' The Three-Arched Bridge'', a political parable set in 1377 in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, narrated by an Albanian monk. ''The New York Times'' called it "an utterly captivating yarn: strange, vivid, ominous, macabre and wise." After Kadare offended the authorities with a political poem entitled "The Red Pasha" in 1975 that poked fun at the Albanian Communist bureaucracy, he was denounced, narrowly avoiding being shot, and was ultimately sent to do
manual labor Manual labour (in Commonwealth English, manual labor in American English) or manual work is physical work done by humans, in contrast to labour by machines and working animals. It is most literally work done with the hands (the word ''manual ...
in a remote village deep in the central Albania countryside for a short period of time. After his return to Tirana, Kadare increasingly began to publish short novellas. In 1980 Kadare published the novel ''
Broken April ''Broken April'' is a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Published in 1978, the book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes: how the past affects the present. The novel concerns about the centuries-old tradition of hospitality, blood feud ...
'', about the centuries-old tradition of hospitality,
blood feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...
s, and revenge killing in the highlands of
north Albania Northern Albania ( sq, Shqipëria Veriore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. This ethnographical territory is sometimes referred to as ''Ghegeria'' ( sq, Gegëria) which also includes parts of the Albanian-inhabited territories of ...
in the 1930s. ''The New York Times'', reviewing it, wrote: "''Broken April'' is written with masterly simplicity in a
bardic In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
style, as if the author is saying: Sit quietly and let me recite a terrible story about a blood feud and the inevitability of death by gunfire in my country. You know it must happen because that is the way life is lived in these mountains. Insults must be avenged; family honor must be upheld...." The novel was made into a 2001 Brazilian movie entitled '' Behind the Sun'' (''Abril Despedaçado'') by filmmaker
Walter Salles Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Early life Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Braz ...
, set in 1910 Brazil and starring Rodrigo Santoro, which was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and a
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...
.


Controversy and tension in Albania (1981–90)

In 1981, Kadare published '' The Palace of Dreams'', an anti-totalitarian fantasy novel. In the novel, an authoritarian dystopia (the imaginary U.O.S.; the United Ottoman States) through an enormous bureaucratic entity (the Palace of Dreams) collects every dream in the empire, sorts it, files it, analyses it, and reports the most dangerous ones to the Sultan. Kadare first published an excerpt of the novel as a
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
, alongside some of his other new works, in his 1980 collection of four
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...
s, ''Gjakftohtësia'' (''Cold-bloodedness''). The following year, under the same title, Kadare published the completed novel in the second edition of ''Emblema e dikurshme'' (''Signs of the Past''); despite its political themes, it was not censored by the Albanian authorities. After publishing ''The Palace of Dreams'', readers began to draw comparisons between its critique of totalitarianism and the current government of Albania. At a meeting of the Albanian Writers Union, Kadare was accused by the president of the Union of deliberately evading politics by cloaking much of his fiction in history and folklore, and ''The Palace of Dreams'' was expressly condemned in the presence of several members of the Albanian Politburo. Kadare was accused of attacking the government in a covert manner, and the novel was viewed by the authorities as an anticommunist work and a mockery of the political system. As a result, the work was banned—but not before 20,000 copies had been sold. The authorities were initially reluctant to imprison or purge Kadare, as he had become an internationally recognized literary figure and it would have caused an international backlash – which, given the country's rapid economic decline, the government wanted to avoid at all costs. Western press reacted to the condemnation of ''The Palace of Dreams'', and protests mounted in the West in defense of the author. Of all his books, it is the one Kadare is most proud of having written. That same year Kadare finished his novel '' The Concert'', a satirical account of the Sino-Albanian split, but it was criticized by the authorities and was not published until 1988. Communist Albanian leader
Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...
presided over a
Stalinist regime Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theo ...
of forced collectivization and suppression from the end of World War II until 1985. He initiated a process of eliminating Kadare, but backed off due to Western reaction. There was, however, a nightly presence of authorities outside of Kadare's apartment. Albanian historian and scholar Anton Logoreci described Kadare during this time as "a rare sturdy flower growing, inexplicably, in a largely barren patch." In January 1985 Kadare's novel ''A Moonlit Night'' was published, only to be banned by the authorities. On 9 April 1985 Hoxha fell into a coma; the next night he died, aged 76. On the evening of the ailing dictator's death, members of the Union of Writers, the Albanian Politburo, and the Central Committee of the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
hastily organized a meeting in order to condemn Kadare's latest novel ''Moonlit Night''. That same year Kadare wrote the novella '' Agamemnon's Daughter'' – a direct critique, set in the 1970s, of the oppressive regime in Albania. It was smuggled out of the country, with the help of Kadare's French editor
Claude Durand Claude Durand (1938–2015) was a French publisher, translator and writer. He worked in the French film industry editing films, and occasionally writing and directing. He published leading authors such as Solzhenitsyn and Houellebecq, and tog ...
, but was not published until 2003. In 1990 Kadare requested a meeting with Albanian President Ramiz Alia, at which he urged him to end human rights abuses, implement democratic and economic reforms, and end the isolation of Albania. Kadare was disappointed with Alia's slow reaction.


Political asylum in France (1990–present)

In October 1990, after he criticized the Albanian government, urged democratization of isolationist Albania—Europe's last Communist-ruled country (then totalling 3.3 million people), and faced the ire of its authorities and – the final straw – threats from the Albanian '' Sigurimi'' secret police, Kadare sought and received
political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...
in France. He defected to Paris; since then he has lived primarily in Paris, and temporarily after a time in Tirana. He had decided to defect because he had become disillusioned with the government of Ramiz Alia, legal opposition was not allowed in Albania, and he had become convinced "that more than any action I could take in Albania, my defection would help the democratization of my country." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote that he was a national figure in Albania comparable in popularity perhaps to
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
in the United States, and that "there is hardly an Albanian household without a Kadare book, and even foreign visitors are presented with volumes of his verse as souvenirs." The official Albanian press agency reacted by issuing a statement on "this ugly act," saying Kadare had placed himself "in the services of the enemies of Albania." Some intellectuals, at great personal risk, publicly supported Kadare, whom the authorities had declared a traitor. Poet Dritero Agolli who headed the Albanian Writers' Union said: "I continue to have great respect for his work." Despite this, his books were not fully banned by the communist authorities, and he remained a popular and celebrated author. After receiving political asylum and settling in France, Kadare continued to write. His exile in Paris was fruitful and enabled him to succeed further, writing both in Albanian and in French. His 1992 novel ''
The Pyramid A pyramid is a structure with triangular lateral surfaces converging to an apex. Pyramid may also refer to: Anatomy and medicine * Petrous part of the temporal bone, the pyramid * Pyramid (brainstem), the anterior part of medulla oblongata Ga ...
'' is a political allegory set in Egypt in the 26th century BC, focusing on intrigues behind the construction of the
Great Pyramid of Cheops The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ...
. In it, Kadare mocked any dictator's love for hierarchy and useless monuments. In some of Kadare's novels, comprising the so-called "Ottoman Cycle", the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
is used as the archetype of a totalitarian state. In 1993, the novel was awarded the Prix Méditerranée Étranger in France. In 1994 he began to work on the first bilingual volume of his work with the French publishing house
Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...
. The same year he wrote on command, in Paris, for the French editor Flammarion, the essay "La légende des légendes" (The legend of legends) that was immediately translated to French and published in 1995. Kadare's 1996 novel '' Spiritus'' marks a narrative and compositional turning point in his literary career. In it, two ghosts return to a post-Communist world. The influence of this novel is felt in all of Kadare's subsequent novels. It deals with a group of foreigners who are touring
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
after the fall of Communism and hear exciting rumours during their stay in Albania about the capture of the spirit from the dead. As it turns out, the spirit is in fact a listening device known to the notorious secret service as a "hornet". His 2008 novel '' The Fall of the Stone City'' was awarded the Rexhai Surroi Prize in
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...
, and was shortlisted for the ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize in 2013. His semi-autobiographical novel '' The Doll'' was published in 2020. It focuses on Kadare's complex bonds with his mother and his country. Since the 1990s, Kadare has been asked multiple times by both major political parties in Albania to run for President of Albania, but has declined.


Awards

In 1992, Kadare was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca international literary award in France. In 1996 he was made a lifetime member of the
Academy of Moral and Political Sciences An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
of France (''Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques''), one of the five Academies that make up the
Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institut ...
learned society, in the chair vacated by the recently deceased philosopher
Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...
. In 1998 he was awarded the international
Herder Prize The Herder Prize (german: Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and So ...
in Austria. In 2003 he received the Ovid Prize international award in Romania, and the Presidential Gold Medal of the League of Prizren from the President of Kosovo. In 2005 he received the inaugural
Man Booker International Prize The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced ...
in the United Kingdom for the full body of his work. In his acceptance speech, Kadare said: "We propped each other up as we tried to write literature as if that regime did not exist. Now and again we pulled it off. At other times we didn't." In 2008 he received the Flaiano Prize international award in Italy. In 2009, Kadare was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature in Spain, for his literary works. In 2015, Kadare was awarded the bi-annual
Jerusalem Prize The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously k ...
in Israel. Speaking of the relationship between Albania and the Jews, Kadare said: "I come from one of the few countries in the world which helped the Jews during World War II. I believe the number of Jews there grew from 200 at the start of the war to 2,000 by the end. The population always defended the Jews, whether during the kingdom, under Communism, or after it. He noted that during
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
Albanians refused to hand Jews over to the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s, and many Albanians went to great lengths to protect Jewish refugees who had fled to Albania. He also noted that Albania and Israel share in common the experience of "fighting for survival" in a sometimes hostile neighborhood. In 2016, Kadare became the first Albanian ''
Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...
'' recipient, with the award being given to him by French President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...
. That year he was also awarded the Albanian National Flag Decoration, Albania's highest decoration, by Albanian President Bujar Nishani. He won the 2018 International Nonino Prize in Italy. He won the 2019 Park Kyong-ni Prize, from a list of 350 writers, for his literary works during his career. It is an international award based in South Korea. That year Kadare was also named Grand Officer (''Grand officier'') of the Legion of Honor by a special decree of French Prime Minister
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
, and thus was ranked among the 250 world-renowned personalities honored by France. The Legion of Honor is the highest state title awarded by France. Kadare was nominated for the 2020
Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious int ...
(described as the "American Nobel") in the United States by Bulgarian writer Kapka Kassobova. He was selected as the 2020 laureate by the Prize's jury. He won the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In his acceptance speech, he observed: "There is no room for literature in the Marxist vision of the future world." His nominating juror wrote: "Kadare is the successor of
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
. No one since Kafka has delved into the infernal mechanism of totalitarian power and its impact on the human soul in as much hypnotic depth as Kadare." He also won the 2020 Prozart Award, given by the International Literature Festival "PRO-ZA Balkan," for his contributions to the development of the literature in Balkans. Kadare has received the President of the Republic of Albania "Honor of the Nation" Decoration, and the French state order " Cross of the Legion of Honor". He is also a member of the Academy of Albania, the Berlin Academy of Arts, and the Mallarmé Academy, and was awarded honorary doctorates in 1992 from the University of Grenoble III in France, in 2003 from the
University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the ...
in Kosovo, and in 2009 from the University of Palermo in Italy."Tempulli i dijes: monografi:1970–2012", University of Pristina, Kadare has been nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
15 times. He has stated that the press has spoken about him being a potential Nobel Prize winner so much, that "many people think that I’ve already won it".


Legacy

Kadare is considered to be one of the greatest living writers. The London newspaper ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' said of Kadare: "He has been compared to
Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
, Kafka and Orwell. But Kadare's is an original voice, universal but deeply rooted in his own soil". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said his fiction has been compared with that of
Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
, as well as
Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himsel ...
, and ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' wrote he has also been compared with
Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
and Isak Dinesen. Translator and biographer
David Bellos David Bellos (born 1945) is an English-born translator and biographer. Bellos is Meredith Howland Pyne Professor of French Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University in the United States. He was director of Princeton ...
wrote that "In some ways, he's like Balzac." Critic
Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for '' The New York Times''. ...
called him "a supreme fictional interpreter of the psychology and physiognomy of oppression." Kadare's literary works were conceived in the bedrock of tiny
Albanian literature Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Al ...
, almost unknown before in Europe or the rest of the world. With Kadare it became known, read, and appreciated. For the first time in its history, through Kadare, Albanian literature has been integrated into wider European and world literature. Kadare's oeuvre is a literature of resistance. He managed to write normal literature in an abnormal country – a Communist dictatorship. He had to struggle to get his literary works published, going against state policy. At times even putting his life at risk. Dissent was not allowed in Albania. Kadare noted: "That was not possible. You risked being shot. Not condemned, but shot for a word against the regime. A single word." Under Hoxha, at least 100,000 people were imprisoned for political reasons or for a word they said or wrote; 5,000, including many writers, were executed. Kadare devised numerous subtle strategies and cunning stratagems in order to outwit Communist censors. He used old devices such as parable, myth, fable, folk-tale, allegory, and legend, and sprinkled them with double-entendre, allusion, insinuation, satire, and coded messages. His oeuvre in general has been in theoretical and practical opposition to the mandatory Socialist Realism required by the State. Kadare challenged Socialist Realism for three decades and opposed it with his subjective realism, avoiding state censorship by using allegorical, symbolic, historical and mythological means. The conditions in which Kadare lived and published his works were not comparable to other European Communist countries where at least some level of public dissent was tolerated. Rather, the situation in Albania was comparable to
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
or to the Soviet Union in the 1930s under Stalin. Despite this, Kadare used any opportunity to attack the regime in his works, by means of political allegories, which were picked up by educated Albanian readers. Henri Amouroux, a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of France, pointed out that Soviet dissidents including
Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repress ...
published their works during the era of
de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
, whereas Kadare lived and published his works in a country which remained
Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
until 1990.


Work

By 2020 most of his approximately 80 novels, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays, and story collections had been translated into different languages. His works have been published in 45 languages. Among his best-known books are '' The General of the Dead Army'' (1963), ''The Siege'' (1970), ''The Ghost Rider'' (1980), ''
Broken April ''Broken April'' is a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Published in 1978, the book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes: how the past affects the present. The novel concerns about the centuries-old tradition of hospitality, blood feud ...
'' (1980;
blood feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...
s in the highlands of
north Albania Northern Albania ( sq, Shqipëria Veriore) is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. This ethnographical territory is sometimes referred to as ''Ghegeria'' ( sq, Gegëria) which also includes parts of the Albanian-inhabited territories of ...
), '' The Palace of Dreams'' (1981), ''The Pyramid'' (1992), and ''The Successor'' (2003; regarding the mysterious death of Hoxha's handpicked successor, Mehmet Shehu). Some of his works have been translated into English by
David Bellos David Bellos (born 1945) is an English-born translator and biographer. Bellos is Meredith Howland Pyne Professor of French Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeton University in the United States. He was director of Princeton ...
, though not from the Albanian original, but rather from French translations.


English translations

The following Kadare novels have been translated into English: * '' The General of the Dead Army'' ( sq, Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur) * '' The Siege'' ( sq, Kështjella) * '' Chronicle in Stone'' ( sq, Kronikë në gur) * ''
Broken April ''Broken April'' is a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Published in 1978, the book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes: how the past affects the present. The novel concerns about the centuries-old tradition of hospitality, blood feud ...
'' ( sq, Prilli i thyer) * '' The Three-Arched Bridge'' ( sq, Ura me tri harqe) * '' The Palace of Dreams'' ( sq, Pallati i ëndrrave) * '' The Concert'' ( sq, Koncert në fund të dimrit) * '' The File on H'' ( sq, Dosja H: roman) * ''
The Pyramid A pyramid is a structure with triangular lateral surfaces converging to an apex. Pyramid may also refer to: Anatomy and medicine * Petrous part of the temporal bone, the pyramid * Pyramid (brainstem), the anterior part of medulla oblongata Ga ...
'' ( sq, Piramida) * '' Elegy for Kosovo'' ( sq, Tri këngë zie për Kosovën) * '' Spring Flowers, Spring Frost'' ( sq, Lulet e ftohta të marsit) * '' The Successor'' ( sq, Pasardhësi) * '' Agamemnon's Daughter'' ( sq, Vajza e Agamemnonit) * '' The Blinding Order'' ( sq, Qorrfermani) * '' The Fall of the Stone City'' ( sq, Darka e Gabuar) * ''The Accident'' ( sq, Aksidenti) * '' The Ghost Rider'' ( sq, Kush e solli Doruntinën?) * '' Twilight of the Eastern Gods'' ( sq, Muzgu i perëndive të stepës) * ''A Girl in Exile'' ( sq, E penguara) * '' The Traitor's Niche'' ( sq, Kamarja e turpit) * ''Essays on World Literature: Aeschylus • Dante • Shakespeare'' ( sq, Tri sprova mbi letërsinë botërore) * ''Stormy Weather on Mount Olympus'' ( sq, Stinë e mërzitshme në Olimp) *'' The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother'' ( sq, Kukulla)


Works published in Albanian

The complete works (other than the essays, poetry, and short stories) of Ismail Kadare were published by Fayard, simultaneously in French and Albanian, between 1993 and 2004.''Ismail Kadaré. Oeuvres''; introduction et notes de présentation par Eric Faye; traduction de l'albanais de Jusuf Vrioni ... t al.Paris: Fayard, 1993–2004 Kadare's original Albanian language works have been published exclusively by
Onufri Publishing House Onufri Publishing House is an independent Albanian publishing house with its centre in Tirana, Albania and a branch office in Pristina. It was founded in 1992 and is regarded as of the leading publishers of classics and scholarly works in Albani ...
since 1996, as single works or entire sets. Published in 2009, the set of complete works constituted 20 volumes. The dates of publication given here are those of the first publication in Albanian, unless stated otherwise.


Quotes

* "Literature led me to freedom, not the other way round." * "It was only a phrase that went from mouth to mouth and was never quite swallowed." * "The days were heavy and sticky. All identical, one the same as the other. Soon they would even get rid of their one remaining distinction, the shell of their names: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday."


See also

* Kadare Prize *
Albanian literature Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Al ...
*
List of literary works by number of translations This is a list of the most translated literary works (including novels, plays, series, collections of poems or short stories, and essays and other forms of literary non-fiction) sorted by the number of languages into which they have been transla ...
*
List of refugees This is a list of prominent people who fled their native country, went into exile and found refuge in another country. The list follows the current legal concept of refugee only loosely. It also includes children of people who have fled. The peopl ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*
Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë The Academy of Sciences of Albania ( sq, Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë), founded in 1972, is the most important scientific institution in Albania. In the 1980s, several research institutes began at the University of Tirana were transferred ...
(2008) (in Albanian), Fjalor Enciklopedik Shqiptar 2 (Albanian encyclopedia),
Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
, * Elsie, Robert, ''Historical Dictionary of Albania, New Edition'', 2004, * Gould, Rebecca.
Allegory and the Critique of Sovereignty: Ismail Kadare's Political Theologies
, ''Studies in the Novel'' vol. 44, no. 2 (Summer 2012): 208–230. * Hysa, Shefki, "The Diplomacy of self-denial" (Diplomacia e vetëmohimit), publicistic,
Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
, 2008. * Morgan, Peter (2011) "Ismail Kadare's Inner Emigration", in Sara Jones & Meesha Nehru (Eds.), ''Writing under Socialism'', (pp. 131–142). Nottingham, UK: Critical, Cultural and Communications (CCC) Press. * Morgan, Peter (2011) "Greek Civilisation as a Theme of Dissidence in the Work of Ismail Kadare", ''Modern Greek Studies'' (Australia and New Zealand), 15, 16–32. * Morgan, Peter (2010) ''Ismail Kadare: The Writer and the Dictatorship 1957–1990'', Oxford: Legenda, 2010, Albanian translation 2011. * Morgan, Peter (2010) ''Kadare post Communism: Albania, the Balkans and Europe in the Work of Ismail Kadare, 1990–2008'', Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP). * Morgan, Peter (2005) "Ismail Kadare: Creativity under Communism", ''The Australian Newspaper''. * * Rranzi, Paulin. "Personalities – Missionaries of Peace" publicistic, (2011),
Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
,


External links


National Library of Albania
*
In the Palace of Nightmares': An Exchange
– ''New York Review of Books'' *

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