DOCSLIB.ORG

Hyphen Vol(1), No.1 1977.PDF

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Hyphen Vol(1), No.1 1977.PDF Britain and Malta 1787 - 1798 Roger Vella Bonavita Courtly Love: A Short Note on the Tales of the Franklln and the WIfe of Bath Louis J. Scerri Hydroponics - Plants without Soli Carmel Galea 1I."Muta Maltl)a" braala Test ta' RHerenza graall-lstraarrlg tal-GraJla tal-Poeil)a Maltl)a Oliver Friggieri Some Fallacies and Misconceptions In the Maltese Islands Guido Lanfranco Invito Alia Lettura Del "Saul" Louis D. Baluci Computer Arithmetic Lawrence Borg Number 1 Autumn 1977 HYPHEN - Journal of the Upper Secondary School, Valetta. Editorial Board: Chairman: V.F. Buhagiar M.A. (Lond.) Arts Editor: V. Mallia-Milanes MA Science Editor: C. Eynaud B.Sc. Members: L.J. Scerri MA, J. Zammit Ciantar BA Price per copy: 30 cents Annual subscription by post: 90 cents Original articles related to the Advanced Level curricula are to be addressed to: HYPHEN Upper Secondary School Valetta CONTENTS Foreward ... Britain and Malta 1787-1798 Roger Vella Bonavita 2 Courtly Love: A Short Note on the Tales of the Franklin and the Wife of Bath Louis J. Scerri ... 19 Hydroponics - Plants without Soil Carmel Galea ... 25 II-"Muza Maltija" bflala Test ta' Riferenza gflall-Istflarrig tal-Grajja tal-Poezija Maltija Oliver Friggieri 29 Some Fallacies and Misconceptions in the Maltese Islands Guido Lanfranco 34 Invito Alia Lettura Del "Saul" Louis D. Baluci 40 Computer Arithmetic Lawrence Borg 44 Copyright held by.respective authors Number 1 Autumn 1977 Foreword Since Upper Secondary structures were introduced in both state and private systems of educcttion there has been a growing demand for a cultuJ1al link which could draw young students in these schools with similar objectives and aspirations closer together. Hyphen means to forge that link. Students in this area of education are colflfnonted with problems of adaptation to novel modes of study when more self-reliance and personal research are expected of them. The Upper Secondary School is offering this contri­ bution to help these -3tudents in their studies within and beyond the boundaries of Advanced Level programmes required for admission into institutions of higher learning. This supplement to basic ,text-books aims at easing the arduous work of research without supplanting it. It is meant to anouse the interest of young people and encourage them to search for knowledge beyond the limits of require­ ments of examinations a.t the end of their course of studies. Our main objective is to make a contribution towards the intellectual and moral development of future Maltese leaders in diverse fields of know/edge during a very impor­ tant phase of their education. We trust that this journal will help us fulfil our ambition. Victor F. Buha,giar Head/Upper Secondary School BRITAIN AND MALTA 1787 -1798 Roger Vella Bonavita The normal school history text-book with Paul I of Russia and a year later does not concern itself with abortive Napolean expelled the knights from diplomatic negotiations. Nor should Malta. After 1798, Britain's policy in it, for to cover minor moves and the Mediterranean was dominated by counter-moves in the extremely com­ a determination not to repeat her plicated world of diplomacy would earlier mistake; it was essential to oc­ obscure the main theme of the text­ cupy or at least to neutralise the tiny, book and thus defeat the purpose for but strategically invaluable Maltese which it was produced - that of pre­ Islands. It is arguable that had Bri­ senting the history ofa period or of tain come to an agreement with the a coun~::.r clearly and concisely. None­ Order, the knights' will to resist the theless the student of history must the french would have been much be reminded constantly that what he stronger and the capture of Malta reads and often what he is taught is that much more difficult, Napolean a very simplified - sometimes gross­ might even have refused to risk ass­ ly oversimplified and hence distorted aulting the strongest fortifications in - account or analysis of a particular Europe. series of events. The earlier inability of the british At times abortive negotiations can government to appreciate the vital throw interesting and useful light on necessity of acquiring a secure base at more important developments and Malta, for a while proved disasterous this is so in the case of the unsuccess­ to Britain's position in the Mediter­ ful negotiations between the Order of ranean. Her fleet and troops had to St. John and Great Britain during the evacuate the area in 1796 for a time, last decade of the eighteenth century. for want of adequate supplies and The negotiations illustrate on the one maintenance facilities. She was un­ hand the Order's struggle for survival able to prevent the french from mov­ in the hostile environment created by ing a large army by the sea to Egypt. french revolution and the wars that France had successfully challenged followed, and on the other Britain's Britain's supremacy at sea and minis­ first unsteady steps towards the evo­ ters quaked at the thought of India lution of her Mediterranean policy - falling to french arms. The govern­ central to a proper understanding of ment's policy in the Mediterranean British foreign policy down to the since Britain joined the war against Suez crisis of 1956. More important France in 1792 was manifestly a com­ the negotiations highlight IYIalta's plete and utter failure. strategic importance, both positive The balance was to some extent and negative, to great powers vie­ quickly restored through Nelson's bril­ ing for control over the Mediterran­ liant victory at Aboukir Bay-the Bat­ ean. The negotiations failed; in 1797 tle of the Nile; Britain's morale and the Order reached an understanding prestige rose - the immediate danger BRITAIN AND MALTA 1787-1798 3 was over. But Britain's supremcy in interest in Malta.1 But in fact, the de­ the Mediterranean was not fully es­ lay was caused by William England's tablishe.d until Malta was· unquestion­ unsllccessful efforts to collect the ably under her sole control and this commission without paying the nor­ was not absolutely. certain until 1814. mal fee. The consul does not appear The failure of Pitt"s government to to have been a man of any great abi­ come to terms with the Order of St. lity and the british government never John cost Britain dearly - it also cost trusted him with any important mat­ the Order the principality of Malta. ter. He was obviously a creature of De Rohan, the Grand Master of. the De Rohan for the Grand Master also Order, made the first of a series of made him consul for Sweden and the moves between Malta and Britain. In Baltic states in 1787, created him a 1789 he heard that the british govern­ Donat of the Order with a pension of ment intended to appoint a resiOent 100 gold scudi and in 1787 granted agent in Malta, subordinate to the bri­ him the reversion of the post of tish consul-general in Sicily. The mat­ cancelliere delle milizie (which was ter was not terribly important, but De worth 2,000 scudi a year) and in 1796 Rohan, Uke his predecessors, objected made him the first consul for the to any· suggestion, however trivial, United States in Malta. The foreign .that Malta was in any way part of, or secretary was wise to ignore him. dependent on, the Kingdom of the The effects of the french revolution Two Sicilies. Moreover, he had two on the Order's ifortunes are well · years earlier, as was normal practice known. On September 19th, 1792, in Malta appointed one William Eng­ the property of the knights in France larid to the post of british consul in was confiscated. The next day, french Malta. Accordingly, on 20th May forces under Kellermann and Dumou­ 1789, De Rohan wrote to the british riez forced the prussian army, repute­ foreign secretary explaining that an dly the finest in Europe, to retreat at agent dependent on the consul-gene­ the cannonade of Valmy. The follow­ ral in Siciily was incompatible with ing day, 21st Sept. 1792, Louis XVI the independent status of the neutral was deposed; France became a repub­ principality of Malta. He suggested lic. Within a few weeks french arms that the foreign secretary should con­ succeeded when Louis XIV had failed: firm the appointment of William Eng- Nice, Savoy, most of the left bank of · land. The foreign secratary, on 16th the Rhine and the Austrian Nether­ October the same year, wrote accept- lands were occupied. Naturally the · ing De· Rohan's proposal and thus Order's property in these areas was William England became the first confiscated. Then, on 19th November, (and the last) british consul in Malta the republic proclaimed that France to hold the . King's commission; as would assist all people to gain free­ well as the Grand Master's patent, for dom and thus declared war on the his office. monarchies and aristocracy of Europe. In practice William England did It is in this context of violent not obtain his commission until 1794 change and of fear of the new force and this long delay has 1;>een regarded unleashed in Europe that we must as evidence of Britain's total lack of view an appeal for british protection J.. Cf. CavaJiero, RE., The Last of the Crusaders, (London, 1960), p.206. 4 HYPHEN sent from Malta by William England Order. in December 1792. Presumably the The british government's attitude consul would not have made such a to the flagging fortunes of the Order, request on his own initiative and to the situation in the Mediterranean without reference to his patron the and possibly to the Order's request Grand Master.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE LANGUAGE QUESTION in MALTA - the CONSCIOUSNESS of a NATIONAL IDENTITY by OLIVER FRIGGIERI
    THE LANGUAGE QUESTION IN MALTA - THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF A NATIONAL IDENTITY by OLIVER FRIGGIERI The political and cultural history of Malta is largely determined by her having been a colony, a land seriously limited in her possibilities of acquiring self­ consciousness and of allowing her citizens to live in accordance with their own aspirations. Consequently the centuries of political submission may be equally defined as an uninterrupted experience of cultural submission. In the long run it has been a benevolent and fruitful submission. But culture, particularly art, is essentially a form of liberation. Lack of freedom in the way of life, therefore, resulted in lack of creativity. Nonetheless her very insularity was to help in the formation of an indigenous popular culture, segregated from the main foreign currents, but necessarily faithful to the conditions of the simple life of the people, a predominantly rural anrl nilioio115 life taken up by preoccupations of a subdued rather than rebellious nature, concerned with the family rather than with the nation. The development of the two traditional languages of Malta - the Italian language, cultured and written, and the Maltese, popular and spoken - can throw some light on this cultural and social dualism. The geographical position and the political history of the island brought about a very close link with Italy. In time the smallness of the island found its respectable place in the Mediterranean as European influence, mostly Italian, penetrated into the country and, owing to isolation, started to adopt little by little the local original aspects. The most significant factor of this phenomenon is that Malta created a literary culture (in its wider sense) written in Italian by the Maltese themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Livret Malte
    A la conquê te de... Malte La Valette Carte d’identité Connais-tu le drapeau maltais ? • La superficie de Malte est de 316 km². 316 km² A C Saviez-vous • Le territoire maltais est un archipel situé au centre de la que...? mer Méditerranée, entre l’Afrique du Nord et le sud de l’Europe. B D • La capitale du pays est La Valette. Réponse : • Malte compte une population de 400 000 habitants, sa densité est la plus élevée de l’Union européenne. • L’hymne maltais a été créé en 1922. Ses paroles, à l’origine une prière dédiée à 400 000 la nation maltaise soulignant son attachement profond à cette terre, ont été habitants 2 écrites par Dun Karm Psaila, le plus célèbre des poètes maltais. La musique a été composée par Robert Samut. 3 • La monnaie du pays est l’euro, depuis janvier 2008. • Malte est une République parlementaire fortement inspirée du système hérité de la période coloniale britannique. • Malte a deux langues officielles, l’Anglais et le Maltais. Bongu ! • Du côté de l’exécutif, le président est élu pour cinq ans par la Chambre des représentants à la majorité absolue et il nomme le Premier ministre. S’agissant du pouvoir législatif, la Chambre des représentants est le Parlement unicaméral de • Deux spécialités culinaires maltes : Malte. Elle compte 65 députés élus pour cinq ans. Fenkata, lapin cuisiné en ragoût. L’histoire de ce plat ? On raconte qu’il ète la phrase ! s’agit d’une forme de résistance à l’époque des «Chevaliers de malte», ompl lorsqu’à leur arrivée ceux-ci imposèrent des restrictions concernant la C chasse au lapin.
    [Show full text]
  • 26 November 2020
    Circulated in more than 145 States to personalities in the legal and maritime professions IMLIe-News The IMO International Maritime Law Institute Official Electronic Newsletter (Vol.18, Issue No.16) 26 November 2020 IMLI MOURNS WITH MALTA THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR OLIVER FRIGGIERI The IMO International Maritime Law Institute wishes to express its heartfelt condolences to the Maltese people and the family and friends of Professor Oliver Friggieri, who died on Saturday 21 November 2020 at the age of 73 years. He was a Professor of Maltese at the University of Malta and has been described as a giant of Maltese literature, an intellectual, poet, novelist and critic, whose work defined a canon of Maltese national literature. Professor Oliver Friggieri An intellectual who was a poet, novelist, literary critic, and philosopher, his work had an unmistakable timbre of existentialism. He articulated Malta’s national consciousness in his works, notably with his 1986 work Fil- Parlament ma Jikbrux Fjuri. Professor Friggieri was born in Floriana, Malta, in 1947. He studied at the Bishop’s Seminary and then at the University of Malta in 1968 where he acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Maltese, Italian and Philosophy (1968), and then a Masters (1975). He began his career in 1968 teaching Maltese and Philosophy in secondary schools. In 1978 he acquired a Doctorate in Maltese literature and Literary Criticism from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. In 1976, he started lecturing Maltese to the University of Malta, before being appointed head of department in 1988. Professor Friggier became Professor in 1990. Between 1970 and 1971 he was active in Malta’s literary revival movement, the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju.
    [Show full text]
  • A Tale of Two Morphologies
    A Tale of Two Morphologies Verb structure and argument alternations in Maltese Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie vorgelegt von Spagnol, Michael an der Geisteswissenschaftliche Sektion Sprachwissenschaft 1. Referent: Prof. Dr. Frans Plank 2. Referent: Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwarze 3. Referent: Prof. Dr. Albert Borg To my late Nannu Kieli, a great story teller Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................. iii Notational conventions .................................................................................................................... v Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... viii Ch. 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. A tale to be told ............................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Three sides to every tale ........................................................................................................................... 4 Ch. 2. Setting the stage ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.1. No language is an island .......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Trends in the History of Maltese Literature
    OLWER FRIGGIERI MAIN TRENDS IN THE HISTORY OF MALTESE LITERATURE The discovery in 1966 of Pietro Caxaro's Cantilena, a beautiful poem in Mediaeval Maltese presumably composed in the middle of the 15th century, only marks an isolated effort by an eminent man of letters to produce a literary piece in Maltese. The Cantilena stands out as the earliest known work in the language and does not imply in any way the existence of a contemporary literary tradition in the vernacular. When Maltese, an originally Semitic dialect gradu- ally developed into a highly expressive language on its own through direct contacts with non-Arabic sources of influence (mainly Sicil- ian, Italian, French, and English), started to be written in the 17th century and then on a much wider scale in the 18th and 19th centu- ries, Italian had already established itself as the only and unques- tionable cultural language of the island and had a respectable liter- ary tradition of its own. Maltese writers developed an uninterrupted local "Italian" liter- ary movement which went on up to about four decades ago, whereas Maltese as a literary idiom started to co-exist on a wide scale in the last decades of the 19th century. Whilst Maltese has the historical priority on the level of the spoken language, Italian has the priority of being the almost exclusive written medium, for the socio-cul- tural affairs, for the longest period. The native tongue had only to wait for the arrival of a new mentality which could integrate an unwritten, popular tradition with a written, academically respect- able one.
    [Show full text]
  • Dominant Metaphor in Maltese Literature
    Abstract This study deals with the way Malta has been represented in poetry and narrative written in Maltese. Metaphor, with its ability to stretch language and thought beyond its elastic limit, has played a fundamental role in the forging of the national imaginary that lies at the junction between real history and literary texts. On one hand, the conventional conceptual metaphors of the mother, home, traveller, and village are rooted in conventional conceptions of the nation; on the other, the relocation of the motherland in the sea marks a return to and a reinterpretation of the figure of the mother. While conventional conceptual metaphors have the potential to structure the concept of the nation by imagining the unimagined, fresh conceptual metaphors simultaneously create and defy that new structure. Dominant Metaphors in Maltese Literature DominantDominant MetaphorsMetaphors inin MalteseMaltese LiteratureLiterature Adrian Grima 2003 2 Dominant Metaphors in Maltese Literature This is an original study written by Adrian Grima 3 Dominant Metaphors in Maltese Literature 4 Dominant Metaphors in Maltese Literature DominantDominant MetaphorsMetaphors inin MalteseMaltese LiteratureLiterature A dissertation presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Malta for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Maltese Adrian Grima June, 2003 5 Dominant Metaphors in Maltese Literature A Note of Thanks I would like to thank my two supervisors, Professor Oliver Friggieri of the University of Malta and Professor Joseph A. Buttigieg of the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA) for their expert advice and encouragement throughout the six years that I have been working on this dissertation. I would also like to thank my colleagues at work, especially Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Editorial-Creative Writing and Arts
    Author: Hoving, Isabel Title: Editorial-Creative Writing and Arts Editorial-Creative Writing and Arts Isabel Hoving University of Leiden The Mediterranean is as much a “territory of imagination,” as Serenella Iovino says in her introduction, as a geographical location. Hence the enigmatic, colourful mirage on this issue’s cover, a mural by Malagan painter Santiago Fernandez Aragüez, entitled “Ilusión óptica en el mar”—an optical illusion in the sea. In the Mediterranean, sea and land are interdependent, history, myth and the present feed into each other, and while the landscape is heavily manipulated and transformed throughout the centuries (see the introduction), its inhabitants may nevertheless insist on their strong sense of place and identity. It is in this context that the mirage of a bright pink-and-orange town may suddenly emerge from the waves, to evoke the mythical reality of the region. Most essays in this issue explore the complexity of the Mediterranean in an academic manner. This time, the Creative Writing and Art section decided to opt for a more explicit focus on regional, popular and folk expressions. These forms of art often bring out the personal, mythical, spiritual and surreal dimensions that exceed the official discourses on national or regional identity. Building on a long tradition in which the environment itself was endowed with mythical and spiritual meaning, the art in this issue tries to capture the people’s intimate experience of the sensual, often cruel spaces they inhabit and labour on an everyday basis. This alternative sense of space—a dwelling perspective, as Timothy Ingold might say—is crucial to understand this region Vol 4, No 2 that exceeds all one-dimensional national or cultural definitions.
    [Show full text]
  • Original Paper the Political Relevance of Dun Karm, The
    World Journal of Social Science Research ISSN 2375-9747 (Print) ISSN 2332-5534 (Online) Vol. 6, No. 2, 2019 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjssr Original Paper The Political Relevance of Dun Karm, the National Poet of Malta: A Stand beyond Partisanship Oliver Friggieri1* 1 University of Malta, Malta * Oliver Friggieri, University of Malta, Malta Received: March 23, 2019 Accepted: April 14, 2019 Online Published: April 28, 2019 doi:10.22158/wjssr.v6n2p190 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/wjssr.v6n2p190 Abstract The role played by Dun Karm, Malta’s national poet, in the gradual reconstruction of Malta’s claim of being a nation, far trascends the strict confines of poetry in particular, and of literature in general. His ability in fusing into one unique whole the Semitic and the Latin components of Maltese identity transcended politics and managed to establish in a relatively short span of time a sound vision of the island as worthy of achieving independence, and eventually of being recognised by all nations as a republic. This account seeks to identify the influence on political parties exerted by Dun Karm through his works and of proposing a vision of Malta which naturally integrated the Semitic and the Latin segments. Keywords maltese, arabic, italian, identity, poetry, politics 1. A Land in Search of Recognition It was Malta’s fascinating and colourful history that made Malta a much sought after resort for whoever seeks a glimpse of a place where past and present habitually go hand in hand. A small national community, which also includes a diaspora of Maltese living in several countries across the world numbering thousands, is now recognised for its uniqueness achieved largely through sheer dint of hard work by the literary class, Much of it dates back from the late nineteenth century and then going well into the Sixties of the twentieth century when the island achieved its Independence from Britain in 1964.
    [Show full text]
  • Maltese Titles a Selection of Recent Publications
    Maltese Titles A selection of recent publications casalinilibri PRESENTATION & SELECTION CRITERIA We are pleased to enclose our latest booklet on Maltese publications. The titles have been selected by our bibliographers for their particular relevance and importance. For the table of contents please consult our website at www.casalini.it We would be very pleased to handle your orders for these titles or any other European publications you may require. Please send any requests to [email protected]. Via Benedetto da Maiano 3 - 50014 Fiesole (Florence) - Italy Tel. +39 055 50181 - Fax +39 055 5018201 [email protected] - www.casalini.it Maltese Titles A selection of recent publications PHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOLOGY 1 Card no. 16804732 ATTARD, PIERRE. Is-Sintezii : Riinvenzjoni tar-Realtà / Pierre Attard. - [San Gwann]: BDL Publishing, 2016 96 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm. 9789995746865 195 B € 10,00 Includes bibliographical references. RELIGION 2 Card no. 16807605 VELLA, EDGAR, 1961-. Treasures of faith : relics and reliquaries in the Diocese of Malta during the Baroque period 1600-1798 / Edgar Vella. - Valletta, Malta: Midsea Books, 2016 228 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 31 cm. 9789993275626 246 NK € 80,00 Bound. 3 Card no. 15827979 PISANI, PAUL GEORGE The battle of Lepanto : 7 October 1571, an unpublished hospitaller account / Paul George Pisani ; phography and design Daniel Cilia. - [Silema]: The Salesians of Don Bosco, 2015 248 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 32 cm. 9789995784638 271 DR € 55,00 Incl. trascription of orig. 16th cent. Italian ms. by L. Cenni (1623-1685), Italian Abbot, publ. for the first time. Bound. casalinibooklets 3 Social Sciences Maltese Titles 7 Card no.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Il-Kantilena by Pietru Caxaro Il-Kantilena Ta' Pietru Caxaro Interpretazzjoni Rinaxximentali
    Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Il-Kantilena by Pietru Caxaro Il-Kantilena Ta' Pietru Caxaro Interpretazzjoni Rinaxximentali. "Fuq il-konklużjonijiet ippubblikati fl-ewwel studju tiegħi dwar il-Kantilena (1992) bqajt matul is-snin nibni konklużjonijiet oħrajn li jissoktaw juru l- importanza storika ta' dawn l-għoxrin vers. Hemm l-importanza tagħha bħala xogħol letterarju bikri bil-Malti, imma wkoll, u wisq aktar, bħala dokument li jixħet dawl fuq dik li nixtieq insejħilha 'L-Istorja Tal-Maltin', f'kuntrast ma'dik li hi magħrufa bhala 'l-Istorja ta' Malta'. Fl-isfond tan- nisġa ta' elementi Għarbin u elementi Sqallin tinkiseb definizzjoni sħiħa tal-Malti bħala djalett li kiber u sar lingwa. Iżda wisq iżjed minn hekk, illum nikkonkludi li hemm ukoll il-muftieħ għall-għarfien etniku tal-istess poplu li jitħaddet ilsien li hu taħlita: Semitiku-Latin. Ir-rikkezza enormi tal-lingwa Maltija tiftiehem minnufih f'dan id-dawl: hi lingwa li stagħniet billi laggħet fiha stess żewġ kulturi kbar. Il-profondità tal-prezenza tal-wirt Sqalli turi li hemm livelli u kundizzjonijiet varji fir relazzjoni bejn iż-żewġ gżejjer." Oliver Friggieri. Il-Kantilena by Pietru Caxaro. Fr. Mark Montebello O.P. It- Torca tal-Hadd, 19 ta’ Lulju 2009. Pietru Caxaru u l-Kantilena tieghu. Il-familja Caxaru kienet wahda qadima f’Malta fis-sekli 15 u 16. Pietru Caxaru, membru ta’ din il-familja, kiteb dik li s’issa hija maghrufa li hija l- eqdem poezija bil-Malti, maghrufa bhala “Il-Kantilena” jew “Xidew il-Qada”. Bejn wiehed u l-iehor, din il-poezija nkitbet madwar l-1450. Pietru Caxaru, il-kittieb famuz taghha, miet fl-1485.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Maltese Literature in the Language of the Other: a Case Study
    Acta Scientiarum. Language and Culture ISSN: 1983-4675 [email protected] Universidade Estadual de Maringá Brasil Callus, Ivan Maltese literature in the language of the other: a case study in minority literatures' pursuit of 'majority' Acta Scientiarum. Language and Culture, vol. 31, núm. 1, 2009, pp. 31-40 Universidade Estadual de Maringá .jpg, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=307426641017 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative DOI: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v31i1.394 Maltese literature in the language of the other: a case study in mmminorityminority literatures’ pursuit of ‘majority’ Ivan Callus Department of English, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT. This paper explores some of the difficulties faced by so called minority literatures in attracting both popular and critical notice, particularly in view of the fact that recourse to the vernacular can foreclose dissemination of works in significant markets. The consequence, it seems, is that minority literatures are in effect compelled to negotiate the encounter with readerships in those markets in the language of the other. This compels a number of difficult choices which can take on a distinctly ethical and/or political character, and which hinge on further complexities involving issues like translation, nationhood, and otherness. Those difficulties and choices are explored, in the paper, through a discussion of the specific challenges of Maltese literature: a case study that, in the context of the paper’s concerns, takes on particular significance in view of the unceasing debates within Maltese cultural history on the tensions between insularity and openness, authenticity and hybridity, identity and otherness, peripherality and majority.
    [Show full text]
  • The Language and Literature of Malta: a Synthesis of Semitic and Latin Elements
    Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 69 (2), 201 – 219 (2016) DOI: 10.1556/062.2016.69.2.6 THE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF MALTA: A SYNTHESIS OF SEMITIC AND LATIN ELEMENTS OLIVER FRIGGIERI University of Malta Department of Maltese, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, Msida, Malta e-mail: [email protected] The history of Malta is a sequence of experiences which exposed the country to various cultures and consequently contributed towards its growth into a nation not only claiming to be distinct, but also having full awareness of its own identity. The Semitic character of its language and the Latinity of its culture have both contributed towards the complex formation of a unique country. This paper seeks to outline the development of the Maltese language as a medium through which Malta could best express itself and construct its own literature. Located midway between two continents, Malta’s geographical position is thus coherently reflected in this duality. Key words: Malta, Semitic, Latin, language, literature, romanticism. A history of Maltese culture may be said to reflect in various ways the history of the whole community. Since much more than in the case of larger countries, Malta could never do without foreign contacts, necessarily leading to a complex process of influ- ences. Such a history, be it political, social or cultural, is bound to assume a compara- tive character. Islands can be understood only as entities within a much larger context surrounding them. What are euphemistically called foreign contacts were nothing less than foreign occupations. The conditions which characterise and modify the proc- ess of, say, a political history of subordination, may boil down to be the real causes of analogous conditions in the cultural field.1 Conflicts of various natures did come to the fore throughout Maltese history.
    [Show full text]