https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/64974 2026-04-12T23:05:22Z 2026-04-12T23:05:22Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/66025 2020-12-17T11:04:48Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Food and the formation of transnational identities : migration, ethnicity and the senses Abstract: This dissertation used six weeks of fieldwork on Triq Ħal-Qormi, a street with a growing number of African-themed shops, salons and restaurants in the town of Ħamrun, to examine the ways in which food can be used to negotiate and form transnational identities. By approaching this space as a theatre, with key actors and props, this dissertation highlights the ritual dimension of the formation of transnational identities through food. This is done by intertwining the development of two notions. First, the senses, and embodied, non-discursive practices engendered throughout the transnationally produced space of the street. Second, the different meanings defined by the divided space of the restaurant. The dissertation first gives a brief overview of the space of this street. The street is both a space of contestation and sociality and it emerges as a diverse social space that creates multicultural sensescapes reminding people of homes in different countries. The sensescapes revealed in this space unveil the non-discursive elements of these people​’​s identities, displaying diverse space as a process, not a bounded enclave. The focus then shifts to one particular restaurant to explore in more detail the social processes by which food is given different meanings and how this contributes to the construction of transnational identities. The divided layout of the restaurant provides the link between the analysis of space and food because the space of the restaurant is produced to mean different things to different patrons. This is reflected in the different creation and consumption of food within the same space. This dissertation shows that the affective and embodied dimensions of foodways transform across and between boundaries through commensal rituals of eating rooted in memories. Therefore, a sensory analysis of diverse space reveals the processes that underlie the role of food in that space in producing transnational identities. Description: B.A.(HONS)ANTHROPOLOGY

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/66023 2020-12-17T11:02:32Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Alternative bodies : gender and identity among female bodybuilders in Malta Abstract: This research study aims to provide a discussion of the experience of female bodybuilders in Malta with particular emphasis on issues of femininity and its relation to the muscular body, especially considering the supposed inherent incompatibility of femininity and the muscular body. I shall argue that, for female bodybuilders in Malta, the muscular body is not considered to be inherently opposed to femininity, and that, the limited level of muscularity female bodybuilders in Malta generally strive to possess acts to enhance their femininity. Despite this apparent specific congruency however, female bodybuilders still do not identify with the symbolic qualities attributed to muscularity which are considered to be of the masculine domain, such as power and strength. In this sense, female bodybuilders in Malta cannot be considered to resist hegemonic ideas of femininity, because both through their physique as well as in the behaviour, they still act well within the boundaries of what is considered to be feminine. In addition, I shall also discuss whether the discipline of bodybuilding can be seen as a form of empowerment for its athletes or a form of social constriction which acts to control their bodies by instilling mechanisms of self-regulation within the very bodies of its practitioners. While elements of social control are clearly present within the discipline of bodybuilding due to its emphasis on a strict routine and diet and the constant manipulation of the body, female bodybuilders also attribute feelings of increased empowered through the sport. Finally, despite the fact that female bodybuilders in Malta are not directly resisting hegemonic norms of femininity through their muscular bodies as such, in their pursuit and practicing of the sport, they are actively challenging the negative local perception of female bodybuilders and redefining common perceptions of what it means to be a female bodybuilder. Description: B.A.(HONS)ANTHROPOLOGY

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/66021 2020-12-17T11:01:22Z 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The sea is a foreign country : the temporal cosmos of a Maltese fishing vessel Abstract: This is a study of time and temporality from the perspective of the crew of a Maltese fishing vessel. I will discuss the future, present, and past in terms of the physical and socio-cultural environment as individuals and crew. The exploration of the following temporal experiences is largely connected to the sea. Therefore this study serves as a discussion of the fishers' relations to the sea concerning time, the symbolic order of the future, present, and past. The conclusion to which is that differing temporal perceptions transform the sea into a space of otherness, that for the fishers the sea is a foreign country. Description: B.A.(HONS)ANTHROPOLOGY

2020-01-01T00:00:00Z