The Poetry and Prose, as Well as the Impact of Communist Ideology in the Albanian Literature of the ’80

Abstract

Albanian literature has come a long way through the many historical events it has endured and managed to survive. One of the harshest periods for Albanian literature did not come as a consequence of external invasion, but from within. The communist dictatorship in Albania, which started in the aftermath of the Second World War and lasted until 1991, besides controlling politics, foreign relations, the economy, and social structures, used art, and in particular literature, as a weapon to demolish free thought and enforce its ideology through canonized structures and clichés, such as martyrdom. This led Albanian authors to find new ways hidden within literary figures, which they mastered, to spread their message and express their true thoughts and feelings beyond censorship, and trained readers to read through and understand the intentions of the authors.