Charles Briffa’s main purpose of Dellijiet Jgħajtu fir-Ras is exposition with an interpretative dose. The book tries to get to grips with the complex work of a leading Maltese creative writer so that his many different social facets may become coherent to a local public. Here Briffa is concerned largely with giving some accounts of Azzopardi’s production and integrating the three main sides of the latter’s popular career as creative writer, theatre animator, and journalist.
This study may serve as a clue to the local public. Readers are expected to ponder on the issues presented to re-think about some of the prevalent misunderstandings about Azzopardi, who has to be placed in the literary perspective of human thought.
The integration of the three facets in this one personality becomes imperative as it reveals Azzopardi’s highly individual thought and temperament. The choices he makes show him what he is, but the interrelatedness of his thinking throws light on contemporary Maltese literature and times. For this reason, the chapters should be read consecutively as presented and the book taken as a whole.
The multiple personae in his works unleash images of awareness of modern society and Briffa’s book, going by the principle that anything that is important is worth serious attention, tries to unlock Azzopardi’s vision.
Dellijiet Jgħajtu fir-Ras, therefore, is an account of Mario Azzopardi’s position as Malta's most radical man of letters and cultural animator, a powerful alternative to complacency in the literary and artistic domains. The exposition is mainly based on his writings and development as an organic activist within the literary and the artistic scene. The integration of his explorations in literature, journalism and drama helps interpretation, making of this volume a serious attempt to help the reader understand the makings of a complex individualist who constantly militated for collective change.
Azzopardi is a crucial social critic and his creative process can often be seen as a sharp, controversial force against oppressive myths and alienation within the socio-cultural reality of his times. He set out not only to demystify an Island's traditional value system, but also to "politicise" the cultural model and give it a relevant conscience.
Prof. Charles Briffa lectures on literature and translation at the University of Malta. He is a literary critic emphasising mostly the stylistic aspects of Maltese authors, a researcher on the Maltese language with particular interest on cultural linguistics, and a translator of significant works.
Charles Briffa, Dellijiet Jgħajtu fir-Ras - Mario Azzopardi: Poeżija, Narrattiva, u Kummiedja Soċjali (Horizons, Malta, 2020)
