Performing ‘Għana’ : investigating the oral dimension of Maltese traditional singing

Abstract

This dissertation explores contemporary għana as a performance phenomenon. It deals mainly with Għana Spirtu Pront which is the form mostly associated to traditional Maltese singing. Għana Spirtu Pront, a form characterised by its extemporised sung poetry, will be investigated as a performance phenomenon because of the oral dimension which is essential to its composition. Equally essential for għana (short for Għana Spirtu Pront), however, is the environment where its composition is generated and the delivery of extemporised poetry by the għannejja (għana singers). As such, the main purpose of this study is to challenge the belief that għana is merely a literary composition of extemporised poetry. Scholarship has often approached għana by applying theoretical frameworks from fields that do not necessarily deal with the performative element, including literature and folklore. As a consequence, the performance element of għana remains virtually absent in most studies – something which is also evident in historical accounts of the form. By drawing on such frameworks, studies tend to give importance to recorded texts while habitually bypassing the oral phenomenon which is a most important and exclusive element of the composition of narrative in the performance of għana. Further to this, although the għannejja’s extemporised sung poetry is important in the performance of għana, it is not the only element that constitutes the form. As such, it is problematic to analyse the oral performance of għana by solely focusing on the extemporised poem. My investigations – informed, as it were, by my own experience as performer of għana – are aimed at bridging what I consider as an important gap left by scholars when dealing with għana by focusing exclusively on the extemporised text of its poetry. Whilst credit will be given to the poetic element, this dissertation focuses on the oral and performative phenomenon of għana performance by drawing on oral and performance theories. This will allow me to generate a perspective whereby għana is framed around the psychophysical awareness of the performers and the audience while also accounting for the dynamic relations between performers, audience, and the space where an għana event is performed. Performative and oral elements, therefore, underpin my study of għana as a performance phenomenon, including; i. the process of extemporised composition which is psychophysically generated within a communal context by għannejja whose audience fulfils the role of collaborator and stimulant; ii. the improvisation techniques that create performance tensions specific to għana performance; and iii. the fact that għana is embedded in popular culture and its performative dimension is marked by the għannejja’s act of extending the space of performance to the communal space through procedures imbued with ritualistic undertones that juxtapose daily and extra daily behaviours.