Ghosts and machines : concepts of the self in the post-Cartesian world

Abstract

The Maltese literary tradition, like all intellectual endeavours, may be interpreted and analysed in terms of epochs and genres. One may arguably claim that Maltese literature is to be critically assessed in terms of traditional themes and contemporary themes.This essay will argue that the distinctive feature of contemporary Maltese literature is not its literary style but its conceptualisation of the self. A predominant theme in contemporary Maltese literature is a search for the self. The main thematic concern in many of these works is the search and identification of the self. In other works this search for the self is embedded within the narrative style whereby stories unfold into a journey of self-discovery and attempt a more concrete conceptualisation of the self. Contrary to works considered as part of the classical canon of Maltese literature, modernist and contemporary literature attempts to conceive of, and understand what constitutes the individual self as an entity that cannot be diluted to moral, religious, or national tropes.