Bilal Xhaferri (1935 – 1986) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

writer and political dissident against the Albanian communist regime. He is seen as the representative poet of the Albanian

Chameria Chameria ( sq, Çamëria; el, Τσαμουριά, ''Tsamouriá''; tr, Çamlık) is a term used today mostly by Albanians to refer to parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and Greece, traditionally associated with the Alban ...

Biography

Bilal Xhaferri was born on 10 May or 2 November 1935 in Ninat,

Konispol Konispol ( sq-definite, Konispoli) is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Border crossings of Albania, Albanian-Greek border. The settlement is inhabited by Muslim Cham Albanians. Konispol is the modern centre of t ...

to a

Cham Albanian Cham Albanians or Chams ( sq, Çamë; el, Τσάμηδες, ''Tsámidhes''), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. Th ...

family. His father was Xhaferr Hoxha, nephew of

Hasan Tahsini Hoxhë Hasan Tahsini or simply Hoxha Tahsim (7 April 1811 – 3 July 1881) was an Albanian alim, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first rector of Istanbul University and one of the founders of the Central Committee ...

. His mother died when he was 8 years of age and when he was 10 the communist regime executed his father, at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, due to his support and sympathy for

Balli Kombëtar The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The movem ...

. He grew up with an orphan with his three sisters by his paternal grandfather, Ferik Hoxha. He finished his elementary and secondary education in his hometown and on 1948 he left towards

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; el, Άγιοι Σαράντα, Ágioi Saránta) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Medit ...

as a mail courier, after his grandfather was declared

kulak Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...

and was expropriated by the authorities. He published his first pieces of poetry and short stories in various journals in 1962-1963. During his youth he did several random jobs while showing a passion for poetry. His first book publication were "Rrugë dhe fate", (English: ''Roads and fates''), and "Njerëz të rinj, tokë e lashtë", (English: ''Young people, ancient land''), published in 1963 and 1967. A novel, ''Krastakraus'', was written in 1967 but only published posthumously in 1993. His position would decline fast after a debate with

Ismail Kadare Ismail Kadare (; spelled Ismaïl Kadaré in French; born on 28 January 1936) is an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. He is a leading international literary figure and intellectual. He focused on poetry until the pu ...

, about the latter's novel "Dasma" (''The wedding''). His family biography would pop up in the eyes of the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

censorship, and since then he would be a target. In 1968 he was prohibited from further publishing, and in 1969 he escaped to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and a year later to the USA. In 1974 he founded the emigrant Albanian magazine Krahu i Shqiponjës (English: ''The Eagle's Wing''), which published literary and anti-communist political material. He would be target of dubious attacks, possibly from the

Sigurimi The Directorate of State Security (), commonly called the ''Sigurimi'', was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, ...

agents, and died in 1986, while being hospitalized for a surgery, allegedly from

agents in cooperation with a local Serbian doctor. After the end of the communist regime in Albania, he was posthumously honored by the President of the Albanian Republic with the title ''Martyr of Democracy'' in 1995, "for his dedication as publicist and dissident politician in the fight against communism and dictatorship, for his deep national and democratic aspiration". On May 6, 1995, the Albanian government, in cooperation with the Bilal Xhaferri Cultural Association, made possible to rebury him in Saranda.

Controversy

According to some critics and members of the

Albanian League of Writers and Artists The League of Writers and Artists of Albania () is a non-profit organization founded with the goal of promoting and advancing the literary and artistic creativity of Albanian writers and artists, as well as to assess and reassess the finest works ...

back in the time, Xhaferri was not a real dissident, he was dedicating part of his work to glorifying the communist regime in Albania, he was the one accusing Kadare that his

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

"Dasma" was denigrating the socialist reality, he escaped to

quite easily and therefore he was much probably a

agent himself, and that his work is being overvalued.

Ag Apolloni Ag Apolloni (; born 13 June 1982) is an Albanian writer, poet, playwright, scholar and essayist. He is a professor at the University of Prishtina. His literary works are distinguished for their dramatic dimension, philosophical treatment and criti ...

, would write in an article published by "Gazeta Shqiptare" on 19 May 2013: ''"Dasma" was a novel that "denigrated the Albanian woman", "revisionist novel" and therefore "failed". These epithets that Xhaferi would issue with anger, would be interpreted by some scholars as dissidence. Accusing someone of "revisionism" back in the communist era would mean showing up in the eyes of the Communist Party, because the word "revisionist" in the communist doctrine would be used to label traitors....So, Bilal Xhaferi protected communism from the revisionist Kadare, and is claimed as a dissident today. This is the limit of paradox. Alternatively, one can clarify all questions regarding the "dissidence" of Bilal Xhaferi: Why, after fleeing from Albania and settled in America, didn't he become a dissident? He lived there until a year after the death of Enver Hoxha and didn't fire any dissident cracker to inform the world about what was happening in communist Albania.''
Ardian Ndoca, would raise questions about his relationship with

, and the real size of his work and contribution to Albanian literature. In his article "False expectations in literature" ( sq, Pritmet e rreme në letërsi), published on "Drini" magazine on 04/05/2013, he would state: ''What was ruining a little these mythifications, was the fact that this young Cham writer, although his father was shot in 1945 as anti-communist, had arrived so far as to take part in meetings of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania, and had even published two volumes of poetry before his escape to Greece! ...Later, a large part of the creativity of Xhaferi came out to consist of novels and stories fragments, sometimes fragments of just a few pages, however, the "fragment" that really made him famous inside the "literary" environments of Tirana, was his criticism during a session of the League, on April 1968 to the novel "Dasma" of Kadare...There are some scholars and critics today, who want to convince us that Bilal Xhaferi, whose father getting shot did not prevent him from publishing two volumes of poetry during communism, and was present in four over-controlled bodies of PPSh: "Zëri i Rinisë", "Drita", "Nëntori", and "Ylli", and did not even stop him from participating in the League's sessions, was somehow seriously ruined by the communist spirit criticism to the "Dasma" novel of Kadare!''.

Works

* "Rrugë dhe fate" (English: ''Roads and fates''), (1963) * "Njerëz të rinj, tokë e lashtë" (English: ''Young People, Ancient Land'') – summary of stories, (1966), OCLC: 40893965 * "Lirishta e kuqe" (English: ''The Red Glade'') - novel, (1967) * "Dashuri e përgjakur" (English: ''Bloody Love'') – romantic novel, (1992), OCLC: 475228763 * "Krastakraus" - novel, (1967), (Published post mortem 1993), OCLC: 35559442 * "Eja trishtim" (English: ''Sadness, come'') - poetry, (1995) * "Ra Berati" (English: ''Berat surrendered'') - novel, (1995), * "Përtej largësive", (English: ''Beyond distance'') – prose and articles (1996), http://www.worldcat.org/title/pertej-largesive-proze-dhe-publicistike/oclc/122700109&referer=brief_results

Bibliography

* ''Uragani i meteorëve: Bilal Xhaferri dhe Ismail Kadare ballë për ballë (Hurricane of meteors: Bilal Xheferri in front of Ismail Kadare)'', Fatime Kulli,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, 2004, * ''Diplomacia e vetëmohimit: zhvillime të çështjes çame (The Diplomacy of self-denial: developments on the Cham issue)'',

Shefki Hysa Shefki Mazar Hysa (born on 20 July 1957 to Ersekë, Kolonjë District) - is an Albanian writer and journalist. Biography He continued his elementary studies in Shalës of Konispol, Çamëri region. In 1976, he continued his studies at high sc ...

, Tirana, 2008, * ''Të fala nga Çamëria (Salute from Chameria)'', Namik Selmani,

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, 2009, * ''Disidentët e rremë (False Dissidents)'', Sadik Bejko, Tirana, 2007,

Biography

Controversy

Works

Bibliography

See also

References