Ylljet Alicka translates renowned book in German
Story Highlights
- Besides the simple stories of his country, Albania, under Stalinist regime of Enver Hoxha, in his stories, the author describes the equally absurd events of the post-communist transition.
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TIRANA, May 2- Writer, professor and former Ambassador to France Ylljet Alicka has written a good many titles which have also been translated abroad, and some even adapted for theatre. One of his most renowned books is Stone Slogans has been recently translated in German by Edmond Ludwig, and published by Monda Asembleo Socia (MAS).
This book has been previously translated in French, Czech, English, and Polish. The title has been turned into film with screenplay by Alicka and directed by Gjergj Xhuvani, and has received a few awards. Respectively, the Young critics award at the Festival de Cannes in France in 2001, the Grand Prix - Golden Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival on the same year, and in 2006 it won Best screenplay at the Albanian Film Festival by the Ministry of Culture.
The book is a collection of short stories which “besides the simple stories of his country, Albania, under Stalinist regime of Enver Hoxha, in his stories, the author describes the equally absurd events of the post-communist transition,” as the publisher writes to the German translation’s book introduction. The book could also be defined somehow by the French translator Patrick Chrismant who said that Alià§ka writes at a time when the dreams of a just and unclassified society has collapsed, the dream of perpetuating dizziness towards a hateful economic system for a half-century, and the dream of an accelerated integration into the Euro-Atlantic political and military community.
Thirteen stories from where you realize that ideology is just an empty shell. Along the Party's nightmare, and under the liberal anarchy that replaced it, remains the same moral disintegration that devalishes the characters of Alicka. This is absurd with all its forms that leads stealthily to disgrace. The stories are the bearers of an Orwellian spirit which shows the authenticity of the Balkan region, and they are also viewed as a memory of the past and a warning to those societies where the government’s control over language is growing. Alicka’s message recalls that if we are to be upheld by propaganda, we have lost our own tune.
The writer is largely appraised for the subtle workmanship and for his astonishingly surprising and humorous mood, Alià§ka gives all the countries of the world a clear insight into the gloom of life during the communist dictatorship in his homeland. Mylada Jedrysik from “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Warsaw has written that “soon, Alicka is turning into one of the most prominent narratives of post-communism. For human weaknesses and attitude towards power, Alicka tells about Albania more than all that has been published in Poland. Everything can happen under his pen.”
Ylljet Alicka received the “Doctor of Didactic Sciences” degree in 1989 and was awarded the title of “Doctor Professor” in 1993. He has completed his professional duties as a teacher in the villages of the district of Mat from 1973-1983. He has also been editor and director at the School Book Publishing House from 1983-1992; Director of Foreign Relations at the Ministry of Culture from 1992-1997. He has been responsible for information and communication at the Delegation of the European Commission in Tirana from 1997-2007; the Ambassador of Albania to France, Portugal, Monaco, UNESCO, and the personal representative of the President of the Republic of France at the International Francophone Organization during 2007-2013. He has been a Professor at the European University of Tirana and at the University of Arts since 2013.
Alicka has also won a number of awards in literature, the First prize at the International competition of short stories in Teramo, Italy in 1999; the Bronze Medal by the International Academy of Lutece in Paris in 2000; the Second prize at the International competition “Arts et lettres de France” in Bordeaux in 2000; the silver medal in prose by the Albanian Ministry of Culture in 2001; the Prix de la francophonie by the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002; the Best novel of the year by KULT prizes in Tirana in 2007; the Special prize by VII Premio Letterario Nazionale “Libri Editi” in Rome in 2009; and the Silver medal in prose for Valsi i lumturisà« by the Albanian Ministry of Culture in 2013.
