📚 Today, at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Tirana, the doctoral candidate of the Department of English Language, Ms. Era Buçpapaj, successfully defended her dissertation for the scientific degree of Doctor, entitled “Four Translational Journeys of a Source Poem”, under the academic supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Etleva Koni (Kondi).
📓 The dissertation examines the complex process of poetic translation, taking as a case study four Albanian translations of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If—” by Fan S. Noli, Vedat Kokona, Robert Shvarc, and Ukë Zenel Buçpapaj.
💡 Through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, the study analyzes the interplay of linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural dimensions that shape the experience of poetic translation. The analysis demonstrates that each Albanian version of the poem is not merely a copy of the original, but a poetic re-creation conditioned by the translator’s aesthetic, ideological, and historical context. This confirms that poetic translation should not be viewed solely as a linguistic transfer, but as a creative, ethical, and cultural act that broadens the reader’s horizon and enriches the receiving literature.
✍🏻 The study contributes to the field of Translation Studies by:
- reconceptualizing poetic translation as an act of interpretation and intercultural dialogue;
- offering a seven-step analytical model for examining the translational process;
- highlighting the role of the translator as a co-author in the creation of a new poem.
The jury awarded the dissertation the highest evaluation, recommending the conferral of the scientific degree of Doctor and characterizing the study as a significant contribution to the field of linguistic sciences and translation studies.
😊 Congratulations to Ms. Era Buçpapaj on this well-deserved achievement, and best wishes for continued success in her academic career.
