Mudelli immaġinattivi fil-poeżija romantika Maltija

Abstract

The main objective of this thesis is to identify the basic imaginative models which pervade Maltese Romantic Poetry. The first chapter seeks to establish an overview of the key concepts and theories related to literary metaphor and archetype, mainly in the light of the work of I. A. Richards, G. Esnault and N. Frye, supported by Jungian psychological concepts. The next four chapters deal specifically with the texts of the most prominent exponents of local Romantic verse: Dun Karm, Rużar Briffa, Anton Buttigieg, Karmenu Vassallo, and Ġorġ Żammit. They methodically explore the most significant models of metaphorization, attemptively grouped as: (a) maternal and sexual, (b) existential and analogical, (c) apocalyptic and cyclic, and (d) environmental and anthropomorphic. The four metaphorical clusters are hence treated in relation to known mythical, biblical and foreign literary counterparts. The ultimate aim of this thesis is to explore the symmetrical continuum that appears to encompass the Romantic movement in Malta.