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etaliation by the Albanians — in particular, his own proud and rugged mountain people. Fishta captured the living, breathing, vibrant verse rendered by real people who once loved, lusted, conquered, galloped, raided, mourned, sang, danced, feasted, plotted, wooed, hungered, suffered, won, coveted, shouted, slept, rejoiced, married, plundered, moaned, and fell in battle. Even though the first edition of The Highland Lute was published 100 years ago, it has universal significance. I am a teacher of English to new Canadians. As you may know, Canada is a multicultural country that respects diversity of language, ethnicity, and religion. In this context, I would tell my students that the Albanian lands had been attacked and overrun by various ethnic groups over the centuries. The people had always tried to defend themselves against invaders, with varying degrees of success. Somehow the northern Albanian tribes managed to keep their culture and sense of individuality, even during the long reign of the Ottoman Empire. Like Fishta, they were optimistic. They had a strong, confident spirit. I think that Fishta was inspired by their sense of honor, justice, and fearlessness. He was a proud patriot and saw Albania as an endangered nation that wanted to take its place beside the other autonomous nations of Europe. Why did he write this epic poem He wanted to stress a sense of collective identity. A knowledge of history, preserved through our literature, makes us able to share our ideas and beliefs while learning from and empathizing with the ideas and beliefs of others in the world community. We come to know many heroes and villains. Reading about what people did long ago in faraway lands enriches our perspective and gives us models and choices, both good and bad, of how we might live. This sense of common experience goes back to the beginnings of civilization and crosses all cultural barriers. Being aware of our similarities and our differences helps us to know ourselves and to be tolerant of others. We discover our heritage, our roots (where we came from), and how our own language and culture developed through the centuries. Hopefully, we can learn many lessons from the past and not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors. We can eventually learn to live together. In all these ways, Fishta’s Lahuta e Malcis is timeless. v Translation Review 71
BOOK REVIEWS Marku, Rudolf. Allahland. Ron Berisha, Reviewer While we’re still recoveringfrom this bewildering title, the author informs us, by means of a quote from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, that we are about to embark on a journey to a place called Illyria, where the story will take place. For those unfamiliar with this ethno-geographical expression, Illyria is an ancient region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea covering parts of Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania. In Shakespeare’s play, however, it is an imaginary place, a fantasy land that the bard also mentions in Henry VI, Part II, noting its reputation for pirates. “This is Illyria, lady,” says the Captain to Viola. The land, after the stormy voyage at sea, would normally be a place of rest and peace. “And what should I do in Illyria” asks Viola; well, dear reader, hold tight: you are in for a hell of a ride. The preface transports us to a country called Zululand, to the dusty basement of a university located in the region of Domosdova — probably the most unlikely place in Albania to have a university — where the scientist Viola Paskualina finds an old and untitled manuscript, which she hands to the man in charge of the archives, who quickly asserts that the manuscript is the second part of the book “Zululand,” written by the renowned Albanian writer Faik Konica sometime in the nineteen twenties. To perplex the poor reader even more, quotations from Hemingway and Umberto Eco are also included in the introduction, which put forth theories that Kilimanjaro might actually be the place where the manuscript was first found, and the Zululand can be a place where even Masonry and Semantics can fit together…. One can imagine what the seventeen short chapters that follow this introduction are going to be like! The plot is in fact fairly simple: Dulce Lina, a lively and fun-loving young lady, is told by the President of the “Happy Islands of Sazan Karambo” that she will be the new ambassador to Zululand. She is so deliriously happy at the news that, without much ado, she throws herself underneath the table at the president’s crotch and engages in oral sex with him. Why is she so happy At the prospect of helping in civilizing and democratizing an exceptionally primitive country like Zululand Yes, but not just that; she is clearly turned on by the enterprise. Her sexual fantasy is to be a nurse, being violently screwed by a humble, primitive, well-endowed patient in token of gratitude for having saved his life and mended his wounds. Even as she flies over Zululand, the unashamedly phallic mountain peaks (of which this country has loads) turn her on to such an extent that she finds it impossible to hide her arousal. When she reaches the main airport (called GypsyPasha) of “the most honourable and respected” country of Zululand, this vivacious woman meets a man called Mr. Smoke, who is the current ambassador, well at home in Zululand, well-informed about its people and ancient customs. His embassy has a full 300 employees (including the gardeners), all transported from the Sazan Karambo Islands. Together, they have set out to “save” Zululand. Later, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Zululand, the bubbly new ambassadoress encounters three burping old drunkards who prophesize that she will actually become the princess of Zululand at some point, by marrying a strong and brave and well-endowed Zululander, as it befits a woman of her status, stature, and attractiveness. With its obviously ironic style and the extravagant pastiche characters seemingly 72 Translation Review
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Albanian Literatu
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Elbasan and spent almost two decade
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on several occasions for the Nobel
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in the translation of Leonard Fox.
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Neither a Wound nor a Song: Poetry
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Minnesota: Graywolf Press 2008) 401
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IK: Writing is generally a multidim
Page 17 and 18:
IK: Translators ought to know both
Page 19 and 20:
coming from an isolated Stalinist c
Page 21 and 22:
translation of his works. He is qui
Page 23 and 24: Kadare which, on a grander scale, b
Page 25 and 26: ordinary free indirect style, but i
Page 27 and 28: modernization. As students of the l
Page 29 and 30: and deposited in a bank vault in Pa
Page 31 and 32: A R C A D E P U B L I S H I N G P R
Page 33 and 34: the poet Naim Frashëri. His moving
Page 35 and 36: 32 Translation Review
Page 37 and 38: feniks [Phoenix City] in 1970), and
Page 39 and 40: wake of a bad breakup: “You are E
Page 41 and 42: weeks later in Washington, D.C., wo
Page 43 and 44: “O man (owner) of the tower/turre
Page 45 and 46: THE POETIC VISION OF PREÇ ZOGAJ IN
Page 47 and 48: where he graduated in Albanian Lang
Page 49 and 50: down the lines that went through my
Page 51 and 52: philosophy. Being Albanian-born mys
Page 53 and 54: similar social characteristics and
Page 55 and 56: COME NEARER, JOYFUL HOUR OF THE POE
Page 57 and 58: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON TRANSLATI
Page 59 and 60: the pain and the dark premonition s
Page 61 and 62: TRANSLATING ALBANIAN FOLK POETRY: A
Page 63 and 64: preserving the metrical rhythm, as
Page 65 and 66: available. I believe that some of t
Page 67 and 68: the ancient scrolls were not, after
Page 69 and 70: quarter century, as new worlds have
Page 71 and 72: TRANSLATING GJERGJ FISHTA’S EPIC
Page 73: (take out “so gently,”) 275 In
Page 77 and 78: of Albania’s communist oriental-b
Page 79 and 80: There is no prophecy, things happen
Page 81 and 82: writing the book, he lives that pas
Page 83 and 84: Those already weeping In graves Are
Page 85: (Wauconda, Illinois, 2004) and Gjer
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