THE INFLUENCE OF TURKISH LITERATURE INTO ALBANIAN LITERATURE DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

It is widely known that after the conquest of Istanbul, the Balkan Peninsula in Europe has become the most important focus of the Ottoman conquest. Due to almost all of historical developments and changes in the Balkan Peninsula during the Ottoman administration, a lot of changes appear in the culture of people of this region, in their education, in their language and traditions. In this land, the Ottomans built many architectural monuments such as mosques, shrines, bridges, caravanserai and baths. In a short time, various forms of arts related to the Ottoman culture spread in Balkan countries. Local trade and economy developed. After Balkan countries accepted Islam, they adapted to the principles of this religion. When the Ottomans came to the Balkans they settled both in cities and villages. The Ottomans brought or created there their families and tried to preserve their language, literature, traditions and customs. In the areas where they settled, the most beautiful examples of initially Turkish and later Arabian and Persian oral folk literature are seen. First, people learnt this oral literature in military settlements. Then, they replicated this kind of literature in their homes, schools and madrasas, as well as in some places of the Tarikat sect. Types of Turkish folk literature and to a lesser extent types of Arabic and Persian literature, remain today as a heritage from generation to generation. Turkish folk literature has almost become an integral part of the Folk Literature amongst Albanians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Serbs, Macedonians, and Hungarians. In the oral literature, we can find examples of idioms, proverbs, folk tales, lullabies, etc. In the written Literature we find varsağı, semai, ilahi and divan. The most important examples are the anecdotes of Nasreddin Hodja, Köroğlu, Kerem and Asli, the fairy tale of Aşık Garip. The purpose of this article is to describe the influence of Turkish literature into the Albanian one, based on the examples found in the Albanian literature.