THE LITERARY TEXT AS A HYPOTEXT IN CONTEMPORARY ALBANIAN PROSE FOR CHILDREN

Abstract

According to the theory of intertextuality, literature is created from previous works. So every text is an intertext. This way of analyzing contemporary Albanian children's literature is an incentive to look for the hypotext. In the literary works of contemporary Albanian literature, we find direct transformations of the most famous works of the Renaissance/Romanticism, but also from later periods. The new text, regardless of the degree of transformation, has an affirmative attitude towards the previous one. However, the aim of this paper will be the differentiation of implicit and explicit intertextual connections. Explicit signals are usually recognized from paratextual notes, while implicit signals are recognized through allusions. In the first part of the paper, the general characteristics of contemporary Albanian prose for children will be considered. The paper will rely on the theory of intertextuality, while the literary works that will be analyzed as hypotext will be those of the predecessor writers such as: De Rada, Naim Frasheri, Fishta, etc.
From contemporary writers, most of the examples are given from the work of Odhise Grillo. Emphasis is put on the works of Odhise Grillo because it is precisely his work where there are examples of paratextual notes that orient the reader. The other examples that will show the relationship between the hypotext and the new text will also reveal the latent forms of reliance. All this will make possible the application of typologies and classifications that we find in the theory of intertextuality and in the theory of citation. The paper will reveal the possibility of studying Albanian children's literature from the perspective of the theory of intertextuality, a topic that has been little covered in previous studies.