The Influence of the Bible on Albanian Literature

Abstract

Just as the Bible has had a great influence on world literature, so too has it influenced Albanian literature. The impact of this book is evident in all literary periods throughout the history of Albanian literature. Albanian authors have taken stories, characters, motifs, and themes from the Bible and have conveyed these in a variety of artistic forms. Through biblical symbols Albanian authors have expressed ideas about themselves, society, culture, and politics and have demonstrated that these symbols have different meanings in Albanian literature. They have achieved this by giving biblical stories a unique structure, modifying them partially by adding new characters and events, etc. Therefore, as a result, biblical stories and characters in Albanian literature have a new distinctive quality as compared to those in the Bible. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the influence that the Bible has had on principal Albanian authors, as well as the peculiarities that biblical events and characters acquire in Albanian literature. The authors have used quantitative and hermeneutic analysis to help identify biblical elements in Albanian literature.