Language, literature and the Maltese National Imaginary

Abstract

The interdependence between language and literature plays a major role in shaping a nation’s identity and intertwining linguistic developments and literary contributions cannot be isolated from the historical and sociocultural context of which they ultimately are the very representation. This is indeed the case of Malta, as the size of the island and its history have led to the formation of a language, Maltese, and to a literary production which can both only be studied objectively once they are also examined in the light of foreign or external influences to which they were subjected, with which they interacted and through which they adopted their present shape. In this chapter we briefly trace the linguistic history of Malta and how this led to the standardization of the Maltese language and we reflect on how this process was heavily conditioned by literary figures and their works. We will focus mainly on events that took place in the early decades of the 19th century, as during this era Maltese was standardized and in 1934 it became an official language of the island. While mentioning the contribution of literati, such as the national poet Dun Karm Psaila, whose works heightened the status of Maltese and who had a major influence on decisiontaking regarding the language, we will also consider the role of literary figures who may have been less acclaimed, but who nonetheless contributed in order to make the use of Maltese more widespread in a historical period which was characterized by colonization and by political tension