THE NARRATOR IN THE ALBANIAN EPIC TEXT

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of the way in which the narrator’s figure is represented in Albanian epic texts. One of the characteristics of the Albanian epic is the ethical dative (dativus ethicus) – the dative of “moral participation” indicating the inclusion of the narrator in the described situation. It allows the narrator to act as a direct witness of the described events and to present himself as if he was a passive participant (who observes, reflects and empathises). The narrator’s explanatory remarks are intended to make his narrative more understandable to the reader; they summarise the described event or orient the reader towards perception of the subsequent action. The numerous rhetorical interrogative and exclamatory (imperative) remarks are used in the construction of the epic text, drawing the boundaries between the two episodes. They also demonstrate the narrator’s personal interest in the depicted epic world, which is generally characteristic of epic traditions; however, this is especially apparent in Albanian texts.