"The Maltese" : in Victorian eyes

Abstract

Over the past decade a treasure trove of nineteenth century Anglophone literature on Malta and the Maltese has been posted online; mainly by foreign Universities which have been digitizing their library holdings. I have been trawling this literature and posting extracts on Facebook; mainly out of a sense of fascination with the way Maltese identity was constructed through colonial eyes in a period when the “native Maltese” (as distinct from the “Maltese” Knights) had really made their presence felt on the world stage. This was the period following the successful Maltese revolt against French rule; which had brought Malta (and the Maltese) under British colonial domination.