| CODE | IMS5037 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Maltese Culture and Identity 1 | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Institute of Maltese Studies | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will evaluate the emergence of a Maltese ethnic and cultural identity starting from medieval times, when Malta and Sicily shared many common values. The intention is to demonstrate how this relationship evolved over time and to enable students to appreciate Malta鈥檚 multifaceted ties to Sicily, which helped define fundamental features of Malta鈥檚 cultural identity. The study-unit will also consider the deep transformationwithin Maltese society brought about by the Order of St John. The intensive large-scale changes brought about in the harbour area led to the emergence of an urban-rural dichotomy. The centre of power was transferred from the old town of Mdina and its small landowning elite to the newly established towns around the harbour generating an urban social structure which was consolidated over the generations. As the influence of the harbour towns expanded, new economic opportunities helped to transform Malta鈥檚 social and cultural role. The new setting provided incentives for those ready to relocate in Valletta and the other harbour towns. The urban development of Valletta, and the wider harbour region, served as a cultural catalyst that helped to generate a wide variety of new opportunities that induced the locals to redefine themselves vis-a-vis the multitude of foreign visitors which left an impact on the socio-cultural structures of Maltese society. While exploring these aspects, the study-unit will also discuss sound research theories intended to encourage students to evaluate various aspects of Maltese culture. The study-unit aims to provide students with tools on the way past shared experiences on cultural identity can be approached. Students will also be exposed to the mechanics of collective memory and how this feeds national identity in a changing perspective. The study-unit will also attempt to provide a holistic view of the composite nature of the Maltese language in a wide perspective by looking at developments from its origins to the present, and the etymology of Maltese family surnames as well as the introduction of crafts and skills that over the centuries became associated with the Maltese cultural experience. This study-unit will look at the lifestyle, values, and perceptions which led to the emergence of Malta鈥檚 cultural identity. Students will be able to appreciate how the quality of life and beliefs of past times were intrinsically connected to the environment and the natural resources available to the inhabitants. The study-unit will consider Maltese Cultural Identity from early modern to contemporary times. Study-unit Aims The study-unit aims to invite students: - to investigate the making and meaning of a sense of nationality and belonging over time; - to appreciate problems relating to retention and loss including fossilization/ ghettoisation and wholesale assimilation and acculturation; - to test case values in culture, identity and lifestyle vis-脿-vis a changing society in a changing world. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - gain an insight on the development of Maltese Cultural Identity within a wider pan European and Mediterranean perspective; - evaluate what is means to be Maltese in Malta, including the impact of non-Maltese influences on collective memory; - appreciate social cohesion and dynamics; - examine the role played by members of different ethnic groups in Malta and their contribution in shaping contemporary cultural values. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - appreciate the meaning of culture and identity and their ever-changing role- identify and ascertain the qualities of both tangible and intangible heritage; Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Anderson, B.: Imagined Communities, (Verso, London, 1991). - Borg, Paul P.: Snajja鈥� u Xoghol il-Maltin, Vol.1&2, (PEG, Malta, 2001-2002). - Brincat, Joseph, M.: Maltese and other languages. A linguistic history of Malta, Malta, Midsea Books, 2021. - Cassar, C.: Society, Culture and Identity in Early Modern Malta, (Mireva, Malta, 2000). - Cassar, C.: 鈥楳alta: Language, Literacy and Identity in a Mediterranean Island Society鈥�, in National Identities, Vol.3 No.3, pp.257-275 (Carfax Publishing, 2001). - Connerton, P.: How Societies Remember, (C.U.P, Cambridge, 1989). - Cassar Carmel. :鈥楾he Cultural Roots of Maltese Identity. Christian Myths and Social Memory in a Mediterranean Frontier Society鈥�, Studi sull鈥橭riente Cristiano. Vol.8 No.1. 2004, pp.101-130. - Cassar, Carmel.: 鈥楳alta and the Study of Arabic in the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries鈥�, Turkish Historical Review. No.2, 2011, pp.125-154. - Cassar, Mario.: 'Maltese Habitational Surnames: The Mediterranean Context', Symposia Melitensia No.13 (2017), pp.41-66. - Dalli, C.: l偶-呕mien Nofsani Malti (Malta, Kullana Kulturali 35, PIN, 2002). - Gambin, K. (ed).: Malta: Roots of a Nation, (Heritage Malta, Malta, 2004) - Mifsud Chircop, G.: Snajja鈥� u Identita鈥�, (SCH Publications, Malta, 2003) |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite qualifications: Degree or Equivalent | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Visit | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Paul P. Borg Joseph M. Brincat Carmel Cassar (Co-ord.) Mario Cassar Charles Dalli |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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