Albania by the end of the 17th century and relations with neighbouring nations according to archbishop Pjetër Bogdani´s work "The band of the prophets" (1685) Cover Image

Albania by the end of the 17th century and relations with neighbouring nations according to archbishop Pjetër Bogdani´s work "The band of the prophets" (1685)
Albania by the end of the 17th century and relations with neighbouring nations according to archbishop Pjetër Bogdani´s work "The band of the prophets" (1685)

Author(s): Ina Arapi
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Albanian Literature
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Peter Bogdani; The Band of the Prophets; Andrija Zmajević; Paulus Ritter; Silvestro Antonii; Albanian language and society

Summary/Abstract: The old Albanian literature (mid-16th – mid-17th century), which includes the philosophical–theological treaty Cuneus prophetarum by Pjetër Bogdani (Padua, 1685), was born and developed as a literature mainly of religious content for the needs of the Catholic religion. Regardless of the topic, this literature was created in a certain historical, cultural and social environment, namely that of northern Albania and the Albanian population that lived there. Hence, the data provided in this book constitutes an invaluable source through which we have the possibility of learning more about the way of life and the functioning of this part of Albanian society of that time. Interesting data on the situation of the Albanian language of that time is to be found in the preface of this work. The author urges Albanians not to let their language and science degenerate, but just as other nations do, they should make efforts concerning its evolution and development. But the alarm for destructing the mother tongue is linked with author and his contemporaries’ high conscious more than with the reality. In fact, Bogdani´s work itself proves that Albanian at that time had expressive possibilities equal to those of the Italian language. Not only the expressive and lexical richness, but the syntactic structure of phrases shows a high degree of development and elaboration in the Albanian language of that time. Examining the foreword of the book, we can learn that efforts were being made to unify the language and to develop one literary variant based on the dialect of the town of Shkodra. Bogdani also tried to adjust the language of his work according to this town’s dialect. Relations with Italian and Croatian intellectuals are clearly demonstrated in dithyrambic poetry and in the dedications at the beginning of the book. In this work, we also find data on Albanian mythology. Cuneus prophetarum occupies a special place in Albanian literature, because it is the first original work of prose, unlike previous writings, which were mainly translations.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 241-252
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: English