Bajazid_Doda
Veprat fotografike dhe letrare
Doda është autor i librit Albanisches Bauerleben im oberen Rekatal bei Dibra (Makedonien)(Jeta fshatare shqiptare në pjesën e Rekës së Epërme në afërsi të Dibrës (Maqedoni)), i cili është përfunduar në Vjenë, në prill 1914 dhe është botuar pas vdekjes në Vjenë të vitit 2007, pasi të jenë rigjetur brenda arkivave. botimi është shoqëruar me fotografi origjinale të marra nga Doda gjatë  vitit 1907 dhe kryesisht të fshatit Shtirovicë  dhe rrethinat e tij, me dy  fotografi shoqërues te Shkupit. Libri i Dodes përmban shumë informacione të vlefshëme në lidhje me Rekën e Epërme dhe kulturën, zakonet, gjuhën dhe aspektet tjera të jetës. Qëllimi i librit, sipas autorit, ishte për të përshkruar zhdukjen e elementeve jetesësore Islame, në Rekën e Epërme dhe për të hedhur poshtë pretendimet nga Spiridon Gopčević në librin e tij të Maqedonia dhe Serbia e Vjetër (1889) për shqiparët e Rekës së Epërme kinse janë sllavë të shqiptarizuar. Robert Elsie postulon që origjinali i shkrimit, konsiderohet si i humbur mund të ketë qenë i përkthyer në gjermanisht nga Nopcsa (dhe, ose me nje kontribut të konsiderueshm të dhënë nga ai) për shkak të sasisë së fjalorit shqiptar të përfshirë. Elsie e ka lavdëruar librin për informacionin e tij të detajuar mbi Rekën e Epërme dhe për shkak se ishte i përbërë në një kohë kur ishte prodhuar literaturë e vogël shqiptare. Elsie pretendon se puna ishte e para që ka përdorur dialektin shqiptar të Rekës së Epërme në letërsi. "Das in der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek aufbewahrte Typoskript, Albanisches Bauernleben im Oberen Rekatal, wurde von seinem damals sechsundzwanzigjährigen Verfasser in Wien im April 1914 fertiggestellt aber nie veröffentlicht. Aus dem Vorwort des Verfassers geht hervor, dass der Text von Nopcsa ins Deutsche übersetzt wurde. Da die deutsche Fassung starke Ähnlichkeiten mit anderen ethnographischen Werken Nopcsas aufweist, kann man davon ausgehen, dass dieser bei der Gestaltung des Manuskriptes seinen Einfluss zur Geltung brachte. Dies wird insbesondere in den vielen in Nopcsas Schrift verfassten Ergänzungen und Korrekturen ersichtlich. Wenn es eine albanischsprachige Urfassung des Werkes gab, so muss sie nun als verschollen gelten. Albanisches Bauernleben im Oberen Rekatal wurde zu einer Zeit geschrieben, als es für die albanische Sprache, und um so mehr für die nun ausgestorbene albanische Mundart von Reka, keine allgemein anerkannte Schreibweise gab. Die in dem Text zahlreich vorkommenden albanischen Worte und Ortsbezeichnungen wurden von Doda und Nopcsa daher in deutscher Umschrift angegeben - und zwar nicht immer auf sehr konsequenter Weise -, und werden hier in gedruckter Form nach einigen Anpassungen wie im Original gelassen. Der des Albanischen mächtigen Leser dürfte mit der Umschrift keine allzu große Schwierigkeiten haben. Die vorliegende Studie enthält eine Fülle von Angaben und Informationen aus den verschiedensten Bereichen und wird daher in vielen Fachgebieten Interesse wecken und Verwendung finden. Darüber hinaus dürfte sie die frühste in deutscher Sprache von einem Albaner verfasste Studie zur Ethnographie sein. Allein aus diesem Grund ist es uns eine besondere Freude, das Werk Albanisches Bauernleben im oberen Rekatal nach so vielen Jahren dem Publikum vorstellen zu dürfen. [Preserved in the Austrian National Library the typescript, Albanian peasant life in the Upper Reka, was created by his then twenty-six year old writer in Vienna in April 1914 completed, but never released. From the preface of the author shows that the text of Nopcsa was translated into German. Since the German version has strong similarities with other ethnographic works of Nopcsa, one can assume that this brought his advantageous influence in shaping the manuscript. This is particularly evident in the many font additions and corrections written in by Nopcsa. If there was an Albanian-language original version of the work, it must now be regarded as lost. Albanian peasant life in Upper Reka was written at a time when there was no generally accepted notation for the Albanian language, and more so for the now extinct dialect of Albanian Reka. In the text the numerous occurring Albanian words and place names were therefore given by Doda and Nopcsa in German transliteration – not always in a very consistent manner – calmly, and be here in printed form after some adjustments to the original. The majority of Albanian readers should not have too much difficulty with the inscription. The present study contains a wealth of data and information from different sectors and will therefore arouse interest in many fields and can be used. The present study contains a wealth of data and information from different areas and will therefore arouse interest in many fields and can be used. Moreover, it is likely to be the earliest ethnography in German by an Albanian who wrote the study. For this reason alone it is to be allowed special treatment, the work Albanian peasant life in the upper Reka, after so many years by the audience.]" Studiues të tjerë si Andrea Pieroni e konsiderojnë punën si një "llogari shumë të detajuar etnografike" që përfshin "shënime të rëndësishme në lidhje me ushqimin lokal dhe përdorimin e bimëve medicinale" në lidhje me hulumtimet në rajonin e Rekës së Epërme.Pieroni, Andrea, et al (2013). "One century later: the folk botanical knowledge of the last remaining Albanians of the upper Reka Valley, Mount Korab, Western Macedonia." Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 9. (1): 2. The upper Reka Valley in Western Macedonia represents one of the very few Albanian-speaking areas in South Eastern Europe where a very detailed ethnographic account – including important notes concerning local food and medicinal plant uses – was written in the first decade of the 20th Century. Bajazid Elmaz Doda (approx. 1888–1933) was the personal assistant and long-term partner of one of the most famous scholars in the field of Albanian studies: the Hungarian aristocrat and palaeontologist Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás (1877–1933). Doda finalised a manuscript in 1914, probably written in collaboration with his mentor/partner, which was focused on the daily mountain life of his village, Shtirovica, located in the upper Reka Valley (approx. 1400 m.a.s.l.). This manuscript remained unpublished until the Albanologist Robert Elsie found it in the Austrian National Library and edited it in 2007. Doda apparently wrote this account to challenge the argument of the Serbian-Austrian historian and astronomer Spiridon Gopčević (1855–1928), who described the Albanians of the upper Reka Valley as “albanicised Slavs”. Doda’s village of Shtirovica was completely destroyed in 1916 by the Bulgarian army. However, a few surrounding tiny Albanian villages still survive to this day, despite the fact that the local population has been dramatically eroded by recent migration waves, both to the main centres in Macedonia and also abroad. The aim of this study was to record the traditional plant knowledge of the last remaining Albanians living in these villages of the upper Reka Valley and to compare this with the ethnobotanical notes found in Doda’s work in order to better understand trajectories of change in plant uses.