/library/oar/handle/123456789/6842 2025-12-23T19:00:47Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/140621 Title: Mapping kink : an archipelago of pleasure Abstract: This dissertation explores the relationship with kink in a Maltese context. While tracing the history of kink in Malta is difficult, the emergence of fetish-adjacent public events since lockdown seemed to mark a turn. This is also greatly contrasted with the sharp increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (ECDC, 2024; WHO, 2023) thought to be linked to chemsex parties (Gamoudi cited in Gauci Cunningham, 2024) which stand in direct opposition to the ‘safe, sane, consensual’ framework (Weiss, 2011) heralded by the imported kink scene. The questions this research seeks to answer are two-fold: how does the practice of kink inform and transform the practitioner’s relationship with their self-body concept? And how does the local context shape the way people engage with kink? Drawing upon ethnographic data gathered from unstructured interviews with kink practitioners and participant observation at fetish events, the discussion reveals the tensions between intimacy and public performance, individual identity and a fragmented sense of belonging. Using a lens informed by queer theory (Halperin, 1995; Probyn, 2016), queer theology (MacKendrick, 2018) and sociology of the skin (Ahmed and Stacey, 2001), I argue that for seasoned practitioners, the practice of kink is transformative. It gives rise to the experiential self as a form of becoming, informing a being-with-others through risk and trust. However, this does not always directly translate in a public context, resulting in a sphere that is marked by ambivalence. The club setting, interpreted as a heterotopic space (Foucault, 1986; Haywood, 2022; Lee, 2023), points to the contradictions between the perceived subversive ethos of kink and its place in an insular setting. The broader context of the market, neoliberal rationality (Harvey, 1992) and post-colonial identities (Bhabha, 2004; 2016) also play a role in the enacting and perception of kink. Kink becomes not only a site of personal transformation but also points to the limits and possibilities of intimate community-building within a late capitalist, postcolonial and insular setting. In this sense, bodies, too, drift apart. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/137993 Title: Effects of COVID-19 on culture : an examination of quarantined life and COVID-19 in Malta Abstract: This dissertation examines the effects that Covid-19 and quarantine have had in the local Maltese context. Taking both an anthropological and a phenomenological stance, it attempts to gauge the various narratives at play. This is undertaken in three parts, the linguistic element, the examination of areas highlighted during the pandemic and on the personal level using interviews that unite strengthen and further connect the prior two parts. Linguistics shall examine the construction of narratives that would shape the disease with particular reference on the language and metaphors used, as well as the attitudes these create. The analysis of society shall examine the various critiques and issues that the pandemic and measures used to combat it would highlight, with reference to the Maltese government’s role. The interviews conducted explore the personal feelings towards this sociocultural experience and act as an insight in the lives of young individuals who highlight the impact on a generation. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/137992 Title: Devoted to surf : an ethnographic study of the globalisation of surfing in Malta Abstract: The focus of this dissertation is to delve into the small yet growing community of surfers in Malta, to understand their motivations and how their comprehension of the global surf community draws them together. My data was gathered by observing Maltese surfers and discussing their thoughts on their spiritual relationship with nature, on notions of territorialism and consumption both locally and on foreign shores, whilst drawing upon existing literature and ethnographies focusing on risk-based sports for comparison. This dissertation seeks to understand the surf experience through topics of spirituality and the occupancy of the surf space within a growing community through the Maltese context, highlighting the difficulties they face without regular tidal surf, and identifying their dedication to their sport. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z /library/oar/handle/123456789/137990 Title: The social life of books in Malta : a material culture study Abstract: This is a dissertation on books as a form of material culture in Malta, aiming to understand how meaning and value are created through the relationship between book, individual and the spaces in which they circulate. I accomplish this through interviews with book lovers and observation of the spaces books inhabit. Research on books as objects has either focused on the ‘material’ or ‘cultural’ aspects of the book or has combined the two but lacked an anthropological approach. Through this dissertation, I show that books gain value and meaning in three ways. Firstly, books act as social symbols of status and class in the public and private spheres of society. In so doing, they aid in the formation of identity. Secondly, they act as stores of memory which make book collections an important repository of life events. Finally, they help people connect to others through space and time. In these ways, books become prized possessions. Even if books aren’t the right books for one individual, they are still seen as being of potential value to someone else, making them unlikely objects to end up in the bin. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.) 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z