Politics in poetry and prose

Abstract

In 2017, the Department of Public Policy produced a 17-programme series, entitled Il-Politika fil-Letteratura, on Campus FM (Vassallo and Debattista, 2017). The scope of this series is to investigate the interconnection between politics and literature with the participation of academics and writers. In particular, the series discusses political implications in works of literature from Malta and around the world. Both classical and contemporary literature are brought under scrutiny to observe patterns, styles and attitudes adopted by various authors when writing about political and sociological realities. Some were inspired to envision a utopian state, others to relay the horrors of dictatorship, wars and famine. Others used sarcasm and cynicism, crafting stimulating parodies through prose or poetry, to attack political elites and their inner circles. Then, there were those who produced novels that serve as a political commentary of contemporary grounded realities, while others adopted poetry to subvert the status quo. Some of these poems eventually were transformed into song lyrics that captured pop music. The programmes in this series are still available as webcasts via the website of Campus FM, the official radio station of the University of Malta.