Ismail Kadare
Encyclopedia
Ismail Kadare (born 1936) is an Albanian
writer. He is known for his novels, although he was first noticed for his poetry collections. In the 1960s he focused on short stories until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army
. In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of France
. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
; in 2005, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize
and in 2009 the Prince of Asturias Award of Arts. He has divided his time between Albania
and France
since 1990. Kadare has been a Nobel Prize in Literature
candidate several times. He began writing very young, in the mid 1950s. His works have been published in about thirty languages.
Kadare served as a member of the Albanian parliament during the communist regime from 1970 until 1982.
, Albania
. He was from a non-religious family.
Kadare was educated at the Faculty of History and Philology at the University of Tirana
and later at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
in Moscow
. During the communist regime, Kadare supported totalitarianism
and the doctrines of socialist realism
.
Kadare's novels draw on Balkan history and legends. They are obliquely ironic as a result of trying to withstand political scrutiny. Among his best known books are Chronicle in Stone (1977), Broken April
(1978),, The Palace of Dreams (1980) and The Concert (1988), considered the best novel of the year 1991 by the French literary magazine Lire. The Palace of Dreams was a political allegory set in the Ottoman capital; it was banned soon after publication.
In 1990, Kadare claimed political asylum in France
, issuing statements in favour of democratisation. At that time, he stated that "dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible. The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship."
Critical opinion is divided as to whether Kadare should be considered to have been a dissident
or a conformist
during the Communist period. For his part, Kadare has stated that he had never claimed to be an "Albanian Solzhenitsyn
" or a dissident, and that "dissidence was a position no one could occupy [in Hoxha's Albania], even for a few days, without facing the firing squad. On the other hand, my books themselves constitute a very obvious form of resistance." Referring to a novel in which he portrayed Enver Hoxha
in a flattering light, Kadare said the book was "the price he had to pay for his freedom
". He is married to Elena or Helena Kadare (nee Gushi).
.
In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of France
, where he replaced the philosopher Karl Popper
. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
, in 2005 he received the inaugural Man Booker International Prize
. In 2009, Kadare was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
. He has been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature
several times. In the same year he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Science in Social and Institutional Communication University of Palermo in Sicily.
The Independent
characterizes him as follows:
The dates of publication given here are those of the first publication in Albanian, unless stated otherwise. Kadare has often reworked his writings, and the newer editions may include significant differences from the original text.
« La vraie littérature a son propre calendrier, sa propre liberté qui n'a rien à voir avec la liberté extérieure. » Extract from an interview in 'Libération
- 25 Octobre 1999
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
writer. He is known for his novels, although he was first noticed for his poetry collections. In the 1960s he focused on short stories until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army
The General of the Dead Army
The General of the Dead Army is a novel written by Ismail Kadare in 1963.-Plot summary:In the early 1960s, nearly 20 years since the Second World War ended, an Italian general, accompanied by a priest who is also an Italian army colonel, is sent to Albania to locate and collect the bones of his...
. In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca is an international literary award.-Origins and operations:It was established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca to continue the work of her husband, publishing magnate Cino Del Duca .Designed to recognize and reward an author whose work constitutes, in a...
; in 2005, he won the inaugural Man Booker International Prize
Man Booker International Prize
The Man Booker International Prize is a biennial international literary award given to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation....
and in 2009 the Prince of Asturias Award of Arts. He has divided his time between Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1990. Kadare has been a Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
candidate several times. He began writing very young, in the mid 1950s. His works have been published in about thirty languages.
Kadare served as a member of the Albanian parliament during the communist regime from 1970 until 1982.
Biography
Ismail Kadare was born on 28 January 1936 in GjirokastërGjirokastër
Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. He was from a non-religious family.
Kadare was educated at the Faculty of History and Philology at the University of Tirana
University of Tirana
The University of Tirana is a public university located in Tirana, Albania.-History:UT was founded in 1957 as the State University of Tirana through the merging of five existing institutes of higher education, the most important of which was the Institute of Sciences, founded in 1947...
and later at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
Maxim Gorky Literature Institute
The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute is a higher education institute in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tver Bulvar in Central Moscow.It was founded in 1933 on the initiative of Maxim Gorky, and received its current name at Gorky's death in 1936....
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. During the communist regime, Kadare supported totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
and the doctrines of socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
.
Kadare's novels draw on Balkan history and legends. They are obliquely ironic as a result of trying to withstand political scrutiny. Among his best known books are Chronicle in Stone (1977), Broken April
Broken April
Broken April is a novel by award winning Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Published in 1978, the book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes; how the past affects the present....
(1978),, The Palace of Dreams (1980) and The Concert (1988), considered the best novel of the year 1991 by the French literary magazine Lire. The Palace of Dreams was a political allegory set in the Ottoman capital; it was banned soon after publication.
In 1990, Kadare claimed political asylum in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, issuing statements in favour of democratisation. At that time, he stated that "dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible. The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship."
Critical opinion is divided as to whether Kadare should be considered to have been a dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
or a conformist
Conformist
In English history, Conformists were those whose religious practices conformed with the requirements of the Act of Uniformity and so were in concert with the Established Church, the Church of England, as opposed to those of Nonconformists whose practices were not acceptable to the Church of England....
during the Communist period. For his part, Kadare has stated that he had never claimed to be an "Albanian Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
" or a dissident, and that "dissidence was a position no one could occupy [in Hoxha's Albania], even for a few days, without facing the firing squad. On the other hand, my books themselves constitute a very obvious form of resistance." Referring to a novel in which he portrayed Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
in a flattering light, Kadare said the book was "the price he had to pay for his freedom
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
". He is married to Elena or Helena Kadare (nee Gushi).
Recognition
Kadare's works have been published in over forty countries and translated in over thirty languages. In English, his works have usually appeared as secondary translations from their French editions, often rendered by the scholar David BellosDavid Bellos
David Bellos is an English-born translator and biographer. Bellos currently teaches French and Comparative literature at Princeton University in the United States. He is also director of Princeton's Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication....
.
In 1996 he became a lifetime member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he replaced the philosopher Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS FBA was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics...
. In 1992, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
Prix mondial Cino Del Duca
The Prix mondial Cino Del Duca is an international literary award.-Origins and operations:It was established in 1969 in France by Simone Del Duca to continue the work of her husband, publishing magnate Cino Del Duca .Designed to recognize and reward an author whose work constitutes, in a...
, in 2005 he received the inaugural Man Booker International Prize
Man Booker International Prize
The Man Booker International Prize is a biennial international literary award given to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation....
. In 2009, Kadare was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
Prince of Asturias Awards
The Prince of Asturias Awards are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Prince of Asturias Foundation to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs....
. He has been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
several times. In the same year he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Science in Social and Institutional Communication University of Palermo in Sicily.
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
characterizes him as follows:
He has been compared to Gogol, Kafka and OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
. But Kadare's is an original voice, universal yet deeply rooted in his own soil.
Selected works
The following Kadare novels have been translated into English (in chronological order of first publication):- The General of the Dead ArmyThe General of the Dead ArmyThe General of the Dead Army is a novel written by Ismail Kadare in 1963.-Plot summary:In the early 1960s, nearly 20 years since the Second World War ended, an Italian general, accompanied by a priest who is also an Italian army colonel, is sent to Albania to locate and collect the bones of his...
(1963), - The MonsterThe MonsterThe Monster may refer to:* The Monster , a French horror film* The Monster , an American horror film* The Monster , an Egyptian crime film* The Monster, a novel by Ismail Kadare...
(1965) ; shortly published in 1965 in the literary Nëntori magazine, the novel was soon censored and never appeared on the libraries. It was republished only 30 years later. - The Wedding (1968),
- The CastleThe Castle (Kadare)The Castle is a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare, first published in 1970 in Tirana as Kështjella. It tells about the Albanian-Ottoman war during the time of Skanderbeg.It is also known as The Siege....
or The SiegeThe Castle (Kadare)The Castle is a novel by Albanian author Ismail Kadare, first published in 1970 in Tirana as Kështjella. It tells about the Albanian-Ottoman war during the time of Skanderbeg.It is also known as The Siege....
(1970), - Chronicle in StoneChronicle in StoneChronicle in Stone is a novel by Ismail Kadare. First published in Albanian in 1971 and sixteen years later in English translation, it describes life in a small Albanian city during World War II....
(1971), - The Great Winter (1977)
- Broken AprilBroken AprilBroken April is a novel by award winning Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Published in 1978, the book explores one of Kadare's recurring themes; how the past affects the present....
(1978), - The Three-Arched BridgeThe Three-Arched BridgeThe Three Arched Bridge is a 1978 novel by Ismail Kadare. The story concerns a very old Albanian legend written in verses, namely "Legjenda e Rozafes"...
(1978), - On the Lay of the Knights (1979)
- Doruntine (1980),
- The Autobiography of the People in Verses (1980),
- The Palace of Dreams (1981),
- The Concert (1988),
- The File on HThe File on HThe File on H. is a novel by the Albanian author Ismail Kadare. It first appeared in Albanian in 1981 under the title Dosja H.-Plot:...
(1990) - Albanian Spring (1991)
- The PyramidThe Pyramid (Kadare)The Pyramid is a novel written by Ismail Kadare, considered one of the greatest works produced by this writer, rivaling The Garden Party, by Václav Havel. It is considered to serve both literary and a dissident purposes. -Plot introduction:...
, or La Pyramide (1992), - Three Elegies for Kosovo (1998),
- Spring Flowers, Spring Frost (2000),
- The Successor (2003),
- Agamemnon's Daughter (2003),
- The AccidentThe AccidentThe Accident may refer to:*The original title of the novel Day by Elie Wiesel*The Accident , a novel by Dexter Masters*"Subway" , a sixth season episode of Homicide: Life on the Street sometimes referred to as "The Accident"...
(2010), - Mosmarrëveshja: Mbi raportet e Shqipërisë me vetveten. (2010)
- The Ghost Rider (2011); an updated translation of Doruntine. It has been revised to include previously omitted text.
Works published in French
The complete works (except for the essays) of Ismail Kadare were published by Fayard, simultaneously in French and Albanian, between 1993 and 2004. Omitted from the list are the poetry and the short stories.The dates of publication given here are those of the first publication in Albanian, unless stated otherwise. Kadare has often reworked his writings, and the newer editions may include significant differences from the original text.
- Le Général de l'armée morte (1963), adapted for the cinema in 1983 with Marcello MastroianniMarcello MastroianniMarcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
- La Peau de tambour (1967, under the Albanian title La noce)
- Chronique de la ville de pierre (1970)
- Les Tambours de la pluie (1970, under the Albanian title La citadelle)
- L'Hiver de la grande solitude (1973, also published as Le Grand Hiver), deals with the break with the Soviet Union in 1960
- Novembre d'une capitale (1975)
- Le Palais des rêves (1981)
- Le Crépuscule des dieux de la steppe (1978)
- La Commission des fêtes (1978)
- Le Pont aux trois arches (1978)
- La Niche de la honte (1978)
- Avril brisé (1980)
- Qui a ramené Doruntine? (1980)
- Clair de lune (1985)
- L'Année noire (1985)
- Le cortège de la noce s'est figé dans la glace (1985), set against the background of the repression of the demonstrations in 1981 in KosovoKosovoKosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
- Eschyle ou le grand perdant (1985, essay)
- Concert en fin de saison (1988, also published as the Le concert), edited in 1978-1981 but censored for seven years, deals with Sino-Albanian relations in the 1970s
- Le Dossier H. (1989)
- Le Monstre (1990), a short version had already appeared in 1965, but was soon censored
- Le Firman aveugle (1991), edited in 1984
- Invitation à l'atelier de l'écrivain (1991, essay)
- La Pyramide (1992)
- La Grande Muraille (1993)
- L'Ombre (1994), edited in 1984-86, appeared in French before being published in Albanian
- L'Aigle (1995)
- Spiritus (1996)
- Le Printemps Albanais (1997)
- Trois temps (1997)
- L'albanie, Visage des Balkans (1998)
- Trois chants funèbres pour le Kosovo (1998)
- La Ville sans enseignes (1998), written much earlier and edited in Moscow in 1959
- Mauvaise saison sur l'Olympe (1998, drama)
- L'Envol du migrateur (1999), edited in 1986
- Froides fleurs d'avril (2000)
- Il a fallu ce deuil pour se retrouver (2000), diary of the war of Kosovo
- Le Chevalier au faucon (2001)
- Histoire de l'Union des Écrivains albanais telle que reflétée dans le miroir d'une femme (2001)
- La Fille d'Agamemnon (2003), edited in 1985
- Le Successeur (2003)
- Vie, jeu et mort de Lul Mazrek (2003)
- Dante l'incontournable (2006)
- Hamlet, le prince impossible (2007)
- L'Accident (2008)
- Le Dîner de trop (2009)
Quotations
« Les nuages nagent comme des enveloppes géantes, Comme des lettres, que s’enverraient les saisons. » in Poème d’automne.« La vraie littérature a son propre calendrier, sa propre liberté qui n'a rien à voir avec la liberté extérieure. » Extract from an interview in 'Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
- 25 Octobre 1999
Further reading
Kadare, Helena. Kohë e pamjaftueshme, Tirana: Onufri, 2011. ISBN 978-99956-87-51-9 (Also available in French)External links
- Biography, from 'Books and Writers', by Petri Liukkonen