Faik Konica, Man-History and History-Man

2026-10-04 15:28:51 / IDE NGA ARBEN ILIAZI
Faik Konica, Man-History and History-Man

By Arben Iliazi 

Faik Konica was a wonder of his kind. A rare talent, a universal mind and a philosopher of the fiery world. His mental and imaginative background is so rich and powerful, present in the span of three colossal centuries of humanity, that it has projected its profile even in the 21st century we are living in, embracing the tense Albanian consciousness of the nation.

The typical Albanian man, the writer and thinker who is completely self-sufficient and has no need for superimpositions and conjectures, appears before our eyes as a supreme, Faustian ghost, possessing great and inalienable secrets, not only of death but also of life. Konica is as much a man-history as history-man. Raised to a cult by his literary contemporaries, during the communist dictatorship he was anathema, according to an unprecedented ideological concept.

Konica's bibliographical chronology is not very important. What is more important is his style of thinking, the alignment of meanings, connotations, ideas, their root and cause. Faik Konica, proclaimed as a "walking encyclopedia", was one of the most cultured Albanians of all time, a great master of written Albanian, a "knight" of Albanology and the convergence process of the Albanian national literary language, a polyglot among the greatest in Europe, an Indo-Europeanist, etymologist and ethnopsychologist, who knows the histories of words and terms. Dimensioned not only in Albanian culture, but also in Francophone and Anglophone, he knew how to construct aesthetic and anthropological concepts, which have not faded in their substance.

Konica belonged to a breed of pagan skeptics, steeped in a kind of theosophy, but also in altruism, which makes him stand out from the classifications of his contemporaries. He was a supporter of an anti-theological, anti-conformist philosophy, which puts reason on a pedestal, as the highest, supreme value of man. Konica knows how to distinguish not so much the philosophical system, but the living effort to reach truths without prejudice. He does not submit to the monotheism of the specific names of cultures, because he considered freedom more important than anything.

He is even the first Albanian personality who, through many incarnations, considered the process of national exorcism, of merciless criticism of the shortcomings of Albanians, necessary for them to represent an ideally perfect nation. 

It is not for nothing that he writes that "The enemies of Albania are the Albanians, not others" (Albania Magazine, March 25, 1897). 

Konica është themelues i eseistikës antropologjike dhe një paraprijës i vërtetë i kritikës letrare. Mjafton të shohim vëzhgimet e Konicës për racën shqiptare, etnopsikologjinë, mendësitë, bestytnitë, demonologjinë, fetë e ndryshme, gjeopolitikën etj. Ai diti të perceptojë dhe konstruktojë koncepte estetike, që nuk janë zbehur në substancën e tyre. Po ashtu Konica është një kalorës i albanologjisë dhe i procesit konvergues të gjuhës letrare kombëtare shqipe.

Veprat më të rëndësishme të Faik Konicës në prozë, esé dhe publicistikë që kanë lënë gjurmë në letërsinë shqipe, janë:

Doktor Gjilpëra zbulon rrënjët e dramës së Mëmëdheut – Një nga veprat satirike dhe letrare më të njohura të tij.

Shqipëria si m'u duk – Ese dhe mbresa udhëtimi e vëzhgime mbi shoqërinë shqiptare.

Një ambasadë e Zulluve në Paris – Vepër satirike dhe letrare e botuar më 1922.

Martesa e Lejlës (Le mariage de Leila, 1911) – Krijim në prozë i botuar fillimisht në frëngjisht.

Romani “Doktor Gjilpëra” është padyshim një prozë e shkëlqyer, e papërsëritshme, një traktat eksorcizmi i jashtëzakonshëm për aventurizmin dhe vonesat e pashpjegueshme historike, ku ironizohet “zululandi shqiptar” i situatave burleske, i dhimbjes dhe i talljes me vetveten dhe hidhen tutje alibitë. Një vepër, si një antidramë absurdi, ku spikat ironia dhe humori i zi konician, por një performancë në bazë të vijave karmike.

Paradoksaliteti i Konicës, me mosbesim kundrejt çdo gjëje, i shpjegueshëm me paradokset e kohës që jetoi, si dhe me proceset e brendshme shpirtërore agnostike të tij, shpaloset edhe te vepra “Katër prralla nga Zululandi”. Konica botoi te Gazeta “Dielli”, në vitin 1922, vetëm pjesën e parë të quajtur “Një ambasadë e Zulluve në paris”, ku analizohet struktura e një bote alegorike indikuese. Proza eseistike “Shqipëria si mu duk”, një kryevepër e sintezës dhe ideve, një parodi asgjësuese ndaj regjimit mbretëror, u botua në vitin 1929 pa udhëtimit të tij në Shqipëri në vitin 1928.

Konica është një nga satirikët më të mëdhenj shqiptarë të të gjitha kohërave i cili, nga pozita sipërore e filozofit, guxon ta shohë botën me qësëndisje, jo se nuk i dhimbset por, përkundazi, i dhimbset pafundësisht.

Konica ishte një poliglot që zotëronte rreth 7 gjuhë dhe e shihte përkthimin si një mjet jetik për pasurimin, emancipimin dhe modernizimin e gjuhës shqipe.

Faik Konica's translations mainly include selected pieces from world literature and culture, which he published mainly in his magazine "Albania". Konica brought into Albanian a series of fairy tales and stories from Eastern literature, using his early knowledge of Arabic and Turkish. Among them are several translations that are now included in his collections such as "Katër përralla" (Oriental-Arabic), often published together with the novella Doktor Gjilpëra. Konica also translated fragments and poems from great French and German authors (such as Heinrich Heine), aiming to show that the Albanian language was capable of conveying the rhythms and sensitivity of modern Western literature.

During his research work in the archives of London and Paris, Konica translated into Albanian (and vice versa) old historical documents, diplomatic reports and testimonies of foreign travelers about Albania. He often translated short passages from various European philosophers and thinkers to use as illustrations in his essays on the moral and social training of the Albanian people. A large part of these translations have been recently collected by scholars and published in Volume 1 of the series of his complete works (such as those from Dudaj Publishing or other publishing houses), which includes literary creativity, criticism and artistic translations.

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