Martin Camaj

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martin Camaj (born July 21, 1925 in Temal, Dukagjin , Shkodra district , Albania ; † March 12, 1992 in Munich ) was an Albanian writer and albanologist . From 1971 to 1990 he held the corresponding chair at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich .

Life

Martin Camaj was born in a small, remote village in the Cukali Highlands, a foothill of the Albanian Alps , as the son of a shepherd with seven children. According to his own statements, the year of birth 1925 is a mistake in the papers - in fact he was born in 1927. The spiritual culture of this archaic mountain world was characterized by the lack of writing and found expression in oral tradition. In Shkodra , the center of northern Albania, he attended an Italian Jesuit school . The village pastor had given him the necessary scholarship. After high school he founded his first elementary school in the village of Prekal, which he ran as the only teacher. Since he was part of the resistance against the communists, he had to go into hiding after half a year. In winter 1949 Camaj fled over the mountains to Yugoslavia - he was never to return to Albania. Martin Camaj had no contact with his family, who had spent decades in labor camps. One of his brothers was imprisoned for 30 years.

From 1949 to 1955, Camaj studied Slavic Studies , Romance Studies , Albanology and Balkan folk literature at the University of Belgrade . In 1953 and 1954 he was one of the first to publish two volumes of poetry in Albanian in Pristina . In 1956 he emigrated to Rome as he was increasingly exposed to reprisals. In Italy he published other books and was editor-in-chief of the Albanian literary magazine "Shêjzat". The linguist thereby developed more and more a picture of modern literature. In 1960 he completed his doctoral thesis on Gjon Buzuku , which he had already started in Belgrade .

With a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service , he came to Munich in January 1960, where he initially worked as a lecturer at the university . In 1964 he completed his habilitation on Albanian word formation. From 1965 he worked as a private lecturer at the Ludwig Maximilians University. Since 1971 he has worked there as a professor of albanology, at the professorship that he established. He was the first son of a shepherd to be appointed professor at the university. He lived in Lenggries - a place that reminded him of his native mountains - and wrote most of his literary work in Bavaria. In 1969 Camaj married the German Erika. After the opening of Albania, his health did not allow him to visit his homeland again.

plant

Literary work

Camaj is considered a modern classic of Albanian literature. His 45-year career went through several stages of development. His first poems were inspired by his mountain home. It was followed by novels that were interspersed with poetry and less rhetorical. Under the influence of Giuseppe Ungaretti , his works soon show the influence of hermeticism .

  • Nji fyell ndër male - Prishtina 1953
  • Kanga e vërrinit - Prishtina 1954
  • Djella - Rome 1958
  • Legjenda - Rome 1964
  • Lirika mes dy moteve - Munich 1967
  • Rrathë - Munich 1967
  • Njeriu më vete dhe me të tjerë - Munich 1978
  • Shkundullima - Munich 1985
  • Poezi (1953-1967) - Munich 1981
  • Dranja: Madrigals - Munich 1981
  • Karpa - Munich 1987
  • Poetry (Nema & Buelli) - New York 1990
  • Palimpsest - Munich / New York 1991
  • Kandili Argjandit (acting) - Cosenza 1993

in German:

  • “Torches in the Night” ( Pishtarët e natës). Novella. In: Florian Kienzle: Taking and giving. The genders in Albanian literature. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2020. ISBN 9783447114349

research

Camaj's work focused on the dialects of the Arbëreshen in Italy and the Albanian written language. In the beginning he had focused his research on historical texts, then on the history of language. His overarching research goal was the varieties of the Albanian language .

In 1969 he first published his textbook on the Albanian language , one of the first modern Albanian textbooks . An initially planned revision of this book grew into a comprehensive representation of the Gegic , Tuscan and Arberian languages. He saw the work Albanian Grammar , published in 1984 , as a synthesis of all of his fields of work .

In 1974 he published the collection of Albanian fairy tales together with Uta Schier-Oberdorffer .

  • Il Messale di Gjon Buzuku - Rome 1961
  • Albanian word formation. The formation of the older nouns - Wiesbaden 1966
  • Textbook of the Albanian language - Wiesbaden 1969
  • La parlata albanese di Greci in provincia di Avellino - Florence 1971
  • Racconti popolari di Greci (Katundi) in provincia di Avellino e di Barile (Barili) in provincia di Potenza - Rome 1972
  • Albanian fairy tales - Cologne-Düsseldorf 1974
  • The Albanian dialect of Falconara Albanese in the province of Cosenza - Munich 1977
  • Cuneus Prophetarum a Petro Bogdano - Munich 1977
  • Albanian Grammar with Exercises, Chrestomathy and Glossaries - Wiesbaden 1984
  • La parlata arbëreshedi San Costantino Albanese in provincia di Potenza - Rende 1991
  • On the topography and history of the Himara landscape in southern Albania. - Munich 1991

recognition

In communist Albania, Camaj's - non-political - literature was de facto forbidden. According to Lanksch, he renounced the pathetic, patriotic soul and glorification of Albanian heroism that were common there ; the diaspora, however, saw him as a bearer of hope and a ray of hope . In fact, the writer was honored in democratic Albania. However, his work, written in the northern Albanian idiom , and his demanding texts are difficult to access.

Also on a scientific level there was no exchange between Camaj and Albanian scientists in Tirana before the fall of the Wall.

The Martin Camaj Gesellschaft eV was founded in Munich in 1993 to maintain and disseminate his work .

In 1996, five volumes of Camaj's collected works were published in Albania with the support of the Ministry of Culture. After the Socialists , the successor party of the Communists, took over government responsibility from the Democrats , the publication will not be continued. In 2002, Martin Camaj received the Golden Pen post mortem from the Ministry of Culture . Camaj should have received it in 1998, but the award was given to another author at short notice.

literature

  • Hans-Joachim Lanksch: Martin Camaj - The poem as a voice of signs that has become sound . In: Elisabeth Tworek (Ed.): Fremd (w) orte. Writing and Living - Exile in Munich . A-1 Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-927743-48-8 .
  • Bardhyl Demiraj (ed.): We are yours - studies on the Albanian language, literature and cultural history, dedicated to the memory of Martin Camaj (1925–1992) . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-447-06221-3 ( Albanian research , vol. 29. With contributions by Walter Breu and Hans-Jürgen Sasse (The linguistic work of Martin Camaj) , Hans-Joachim Lanksch (The poet Martin Camaj (1925 - 1992). A portrait) , Christine Körner (Martin Camaj as mentor) and Jonida Xhyra-Entorf (directory of Martin Camaj's writings) ).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Recorded on maps today as Telumë-Kllogjena .
  2. ↑ A village in the Kir valley about ten kilometers as the crow flies from his home village.
  3. ↑ Lanksch mentions 1970 as the beginning of the professorship.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martin Camaj Society: Martin Camaj - Biography. Retrieved July 17, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Hans-Joachim Lanksch: Martin Camaj - The poem as a voice of signs that has become sound . In: Elisabeth Tworek (Ed.): Fremd (w) orte. Writing and Living - Exile in Munich . A-1 Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-927743-48-8 .
  3. ^ A b c Hans-Joachim Lanksch: Martin Camaj - synthesis of opposites . In: German-Albanian Friendship Society (Hrsg.): Albanische Hefte . 31st year, no. 3 , 2002, ISSN  0930-1437 , p. 17-20 ( copy of the article on Shkoder.net ).
  4. ↑ a b Erika Camaj: Jeta ime me Martinin. In: "Panorama". October 8, 2009, archived from the original on October 10, 2009 ; Retrieved July 18, 2010 .
  5. ^ A b c Martin Camaj Society: Introduction. Retrieved July 17, 2010 .
  6. ^ A b Robert Elsie : English Albanian Literature in Translation. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010 ; Retrieved July 18, 2010 .
  7. ↑ a b c The linguistic work of Martin Camaj (Walter Breu and Hans-Jürgen Sasse). Retrieved July 17, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Rexhep Ismajli: Nasal vowels in the northeast region: Bogdani-Riza, Camaj… In: Birgit Igla, Thomas Stolz (ed.): What else I wanted to say . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-05-003652-4 ( Studia typologica , Vol. 2.).
  9. ^ Bardhyl Demiraj: Foreword . In: Bardhyl Demiraj (ed.): We are yours - studies on the Albanian language, literature and cultural history, dedicated to the memory of Martin Camaj (1925–1992) . Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-447-06221-3 ( Albanian Research , Vol. 29.).
  10. ^ Martin Camaj Society: Martin Camaj's literary works. Retrieved July 18, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Camaj, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian writer and albanologist
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Temal, Albania
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1992
Place of death Munich