Locating the Maltese woman : feminist articulations in contemporary Maltese literature

Abstract

The Maltese nation and its literary canon are relatively new concepts, the formation of which has taken place largely at the expense of diversity. An appreciation of Lou Drofenik's and Maria Grech Ganado's achievements as Maltese feminist writers necessitates an understanding of how feminine experience has been ignored and stifled in the creation and representation of Maltese nationhood. The Maltese Islands are centrally situated in the Mediterranean, just South of Sicily, East of Tunisia and North of Libya. Three main islands - Malta, Gozo and Camino -form a tiny archipelago, 316 square kilometres in area. Malta's strategic location and natural harbours have attracted many seafaring colonisers over the past three millennia: the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the French and finally the British. On 21st September 1964, Malta became an independent nation and on May 1st forty years later it acceded to the European Union.