The non-deictic voice of tradition: opening formulas and the generative creativity of Albanian fairy tales and their German translations

This study examines the semantic role of the introductory formulas in Albanian fairy tales and in their German translations in Albanische Märchen, focusing on the way the non-deictic voice of tradition frames the entry into the imaginative universe of the tale. The introductory formula, understood as a stable configuration of signs, maintains its meaning through repeated use across generations and establishes the ritual mechanism through which the narrative act acquires its symbolic significance. In this perspective, the opening of the fairy tale is not simply a linguistic device but a cultural threshold that marks the passage from ordinary reality into the mythical space of collective memory. The analysis approaches the phenomenon on two interconnected levels—intersemiotic and intercultural —in order to trace how the structure of non-deixis becomes a coded signal of imagination and cultural recreation. The findings indicate that the introductory formula attests to the continuity of memory and to the adaptability of Albanian culture within translation, where the non-deictic voice of tradition persists as a way of thinking and storytelling that remains active through the sign.