Writer and translator Primo Shllaku has made strong statements about the leading figures of Albanian literature and about the way, according to him, intimate scandals are used to shift public attention away from political tensions. In a television interview, he described Ismail Kadare as overrated and spoke about intellectual compromises during communism.
A direct attack on Kadare’s figure
In the interview for the program “Se luan Topi,” Shllaku said he knows few writers with integrity and described communism as a period of the rape of human conscience.
Along these lines, he mentioned well-known names in Albanian letters, saying that authors such as Ismail Kadare and Dritëro Agolli made, in his view, a self-destructive sacrifice on the intellectual level.
“Kadare is overrated”
Asked directly whether he thinks Ismail Kadare is overrated, Shllaku replied without hesitation that he does.
According to him, Kadare was a “state muse” and helped elevate the figure of the dictator. At the same time, he acknowledged that Kadare is a “writer of breed,” but claimed that certain works show a deep adaptation to the system of the time.
Criticism of the relationship between literature and power
Shllaku’s statements bring back to the center an old debate about the relationship between the intellectual and the communist regime, especially regarding authors who built careers in a system tightly controlled by the state.
At the core of his position is the idea that part of the literary elite did not simply compromise in order to survive, but became part of the propaganda mechanism of the time.
Intimate videos and the diversion of public attention
Shllaku also commented on the release of intimate videos discussed recently, claiming that such episodes serve to draw attention away from growing dissatisfaction with Albania’s political class.
According to him, sexual scandals are used as a diversion at a moment when the public is showing strong opposition to politics and when cases linked to justice, prison, and the involvement of officials in affairs are taking up more and more space in public discussion.
Shllaku’s statements are expected to spark debate, both over the figure of Kadare and the legacy of writers from the communist period, as well as over the way public attention is produced and directed in the country’s political climate.