Bell-ringing in Maltese history 1800-1870s : language, regulator and weapon

Abstract

Bell-tolling has imparted rhythm to the daily life of the people and dominated the auditory landscape of the town and village communities. Being so momentous for the people in practical and symbolical terms, bells were hung in belfries which occupied the highest and most visible points in the architectural skyline, forming permanent social landmarks. The (set of) bells were publicly exhibited as highly held artefacts of collective significance. Bells, belfries and bell-ringing were entrenched as an integral part of the permanent architectonic surrounding, as well as of the more dynamic social and mental landscapes of different social classes in society. However the nationalistic current which dominates standard Maltese historiography dealing with British colonial rule on Malta, focuses on the production of various sorts of political institutional histories which reflect the world conception of the post-independence ruling elites. In this sort of High History, the events discussed and the central issues of concern are compatible with the social interests and the cultural tastes of these same ruling groups. As a result, little scholarly research has as yet treated bell-ringing, its equipment and rhetoric, or for that matter any other functional and symbolic object of marked significance, which formed part of the social landscape and the collective memory of the working people. It is only by approaching history from the bottom up that objects and issues of historical concern, which still replenish the bulk of standard Maltese historical productions are swapped with those which constituted the daily experiences of the common labouring men, women and children. Through this radically altered perspective, landmarks and artefacts of collective significance in social space (or more exactly what P. Bourdieu calls the habitus) previously concealed or displaced from the marked positions they occupied in the energetic lives of the majority of people, are allocated at the centre of our historical analysis. From this new approach, campanarian equipment, practices and language can be seriously explored.