During its fourth annual postgraduate conference, the presented the first issue of its new academic journal Qabelxejn – Riċerka Postgradwatorja fil-Malti, featuring peer-reviewed studies on language, literature, and oral culture by David Aloisio, , , and Yanika Schembri Fava, with abstracts in English.
This journal, designed by Kuluri, is a publication of the Department in collaboration with Malta University Press, and a counterpart to another of the Department’s journals, Riċerkaturi, which features studies based on the best undergraduate dissertations produced each year by students of Maltese. Both publications are freely available on the research portal malti.mt and on the website of the University of Malta . The Department believes that important research carried out by students should be accessible to all, both in print and online.
The initiative to launch the academic journal Qabelxejn emerged from the Appuntamenti mar-Riċerka research seminar series, which is intended for students of the Department of Maltese currently reading for a Master’s or Doctorate and is led by Justine Somerville and Kirsty Azzopardi.
In his introductory note titled “Komunità tal-Kelma” (“A Community of Words”), writes that “The five studies in this first issue of Qabelxejn, each of which underwent a peer-review process, give us an indication of the diverse directions in which research into our language, literature, and oral culture is currently heading. They reflect the themes that researchers are interested in and the perspectives through which they approach them. The perspective itself might actually be what interests them most, because it allows them to see things that have so far gone unnoticed.”
The studies in this first issue of Qabelxejn are: “L-idea tal-kanonu letterarju: idea tajba?” by David Aloisio; “‘Għidli ma’ min tagħmilha...’ Daqqa t’għajn lejn il-kollokazzjoni” by Joseph Buttigieg; “Atti ta’ memorja f’Kulħadd Ħalla Isem Warajh” by Justine Somerville; “Il-verbi fażiċi fis-sekwenza verbali tal-Malti” by Kirsty Azzopardi; and “Il-funzjonijiet u l-motivazzjonijiet tal-ironija fil-versi popolari Maltin” by Yanika Schembri Fava.
The editorial board of Qabelxejn is composed of Justine Somerville as coordinator, Kirsty Azzopardi, and Adrian Grima who are academics in the Department of Maltese within the Faculty of Arts.
More information on Qabelxejn, Riċerkaturi, and other publications is available .
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