page_title: Albanian literature
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Albanian literature / Early Modern period / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Naim Frashëri (1846-1900), Albanian poet
context_page_description: Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in the Albanian language. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. The Albanian language occupies an independent branch within the Indo-European family and does not have any other closely related language. The origin of the Albanian language is not entirely known, but it may be a successor of the ancient Illyrian language.
  The Archbishop of Antivari Guillaume Adam wrote a report in 1332 in which he said that Albanians used Latin letters in their books although their language was quite different from the Latin language.
  The oldest surviving documents written in Albanian are the "formula e pagëzimit" recorded by Pal Engjëlli, Bishop of Durrës in 1462 in the Gheg dialect, and some New Testament verses from that period.
context_section_description: The 19th century, the century of national movements in the Balkans, found Albanians without a sufficient tradition of a unitary development of the state, language and culture but, instead, with an individualistic and regionalist mentality inherited from the supremacy of clan and kinship and consequently with an underdeveloped national conscience, though with a spirit of spontaneous rebellion. In this historical cultural situation emerged and fully developed an organized ideological, military and literary movement, called Rilindja Kombëtare (National Renaissance). It was inspired by the ideas of National Romanticism and Enlightenment, which were cultivated among the circles of Albanian intelligentsia, mainly émigrés in the old settlements in Italy and the more recent ones in Istanbul, Bucharest, United States, Sofia and Cairo.
  National Renaissance, nurturing the Albanian as a language of culture, the organization of national education and the establishment of a national literature on the cultural level as well as the creation of the independent state – these were the goals of this movement which gave birth to the school of Albanian Romanticism. It was imbued with the spirit of national liberation, with the nostalgia of the émigré and the rhetorical pathos of past heroic wars. This literary school developed the poetry most. Regarding the motifs and poetical forms, its hero was the ethical man, the fighting Albanian, and to a lesser degree the tragic man. It is closely linked with the folklore tradition.
  The pursuit of this tradition and the publications of Rapsodi të një poeme arbëreshe (Rhapsody of an Arbëresh Poem) in 1866 by Jeronim De Rada, of Përmbledhje të këngëve popullore dhe rapsodi të poemave shqiptare (Collection of Albanian Folk Songs and Rhapsodies of Albanian Poems) in 1871 by Zef Jubani, Bleta shqiptare (Albanian Bee) in 1878 by Thimi Mitko, etc., were part of the cultural programme of the National Renaissance for establishing a compact ethnic and cultural identity of Albanians.
  Two are the greatest representatives of Albanian Romanticism of 19th century: Jeronim De Rada (1814–1903), and Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), born in Albania, educated at Zosimea of Ioannina, but emigrated and deceased in Istanbul. The first is the Albanian romantic poet brought up in the climate of European Romanticism, the second is the Albanian romanticist and pantheist who merges in his poetry the influence of Eastern poetry, especially Persian, with the spirit of the poetry of Western Romanticism.
  De Rada wrote a cycle of epical-lyrical poems in the style of Albanian rhapsodies: Këngët e Milosaos (The Songs of Milosao), 1836, Serafina Topia 1839, Skënderbeu i pafat (Unlucky Skanderbeg) 1872–1874 etc. with the ambition of creating the national epos for the century of Skanderbeg. Following the traces of Johann Gottfried Herder, De Rada raised the love for folk songs in his poetry and painted it in ethnographic colours. His works reflect both Albanian life with its characteristic customs and mentalities, and the Albanian drama of the 15th century, when Albania came under Ottoman rule. The conflict between the happiness of the individual and the tragedy of the nation, the scenes by the riversides, women gathering wheat in the fields, the man going to war and the wife embroidering his belt, all represented with a delicate lyrical feeling.
  Naim Frashëri wrote a pastoral poem Bagëti e bujqësia (Shepherds and Farmers) (1886), a collection of philosophical, patriotic and love lyrics Lulet e verës (Summer Flowers), (1890), an epical poem on Skanderbeg Histori e Skënderbeut (The History of Skanderbeg) (1898), a religious epical poem Qerbelaja (1898), two poems in Greek O Eros (i.e. O Love) and O alithis pothos ton skipetaron (i.e. The True Desire of Albanians), some lyrics in Persian Tehajylat (The Dream) and many erudite works in Albanian. He is recognised as the greatest national poet of Albanians. Frashëri established modern lyrics in Albanian poetry. In the spirit of Bucolics and Georgics of Virgil, in his Bagëti e bujqësia (Shepherds and 
caption: Pantheist and romanticist writer Naim Frashëri.
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