https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/7740 2026-08-25T23:42:46Z 2026-08-25T23:42:46Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148689 2026-08-25T11:11:46Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The reception of ancient Mesopotamia in modern Iraqi art : a study on Dia Al-Azzawi’s visual depictions Abstract: This research presents a reception-based analysis of Mesopotamian imagery in modern Iraqi art, with a specific focus on the work of Dia al-Azzawi. The study situates itself within the emergence of Iraqi modernism, a period in which questions of identity were negotiated through the intersection of Western modernist aesthetics and Mesopotamian cultural heritage. It examines five selected works by al-Azzawi, alongside comparative material from four other Iraqi artists, namely Jewad Selim, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Hana Malallah, and Faisel Laibi Sahi. Methodologically, the study employs visual analysis, reception theory, and postcolonial approaches to examine how Mesopotamian motifs are interpreted, reconfigured, and recontextualised within modern Iraqi artistic practices. In doing so, it investigates how stylistic choices and visual strategies reflect broader concerns of cultural identity, historical memory, and postcolonial negotiation in Iraqi art. The research argues that Mesopotamian imagery in Iraqi modernism functions not as a static reference to antiquity, but as an active and evolving visual language through which questions of national identity, displacement, and postcolonial consciousness are continuously negotiated. It further demonstrates that while artists share a common engagement with heritage, their approaches (with specific reference to Dia al-Azzawi’s approach) differ significantly in terms of formal strategy, symbolic depth, and conceptual intent. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.)

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148686 2026-08-25T11:09:08Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Translating ‘America’ by Wenyen Gu : a study in cross-cultural translation Abstract: The main goal of this thesis is to fill the translation gap of Chinese ‘New Generation’ authors and their representation of contemporary disillusionment for English readers. My work aims to strive away from the Chinese literature that is already on the rise and focus on less popular, but just as important, Chinese literary works. In recent days the emphasis in contemporary Chinese literature has switched to a more personal exploration of modern society and the inner struggles of the individual. The writers of the ‘New Generation’ have developed a more global viewpoint and increased formal experimentation, resulting in works that exhibit greater individualism and diversity in both form and content. I have tried to fill this gap by translating a short story titled “America” by a ‘New Generation’ author Wenyan Gu. My reflection analyzes the Mandarin literary language as well as go through excerpts from the source text and my translated version to explain the decisions I have made and reasons as to why I made such choices. As my translation is the first ten-thousand characters of the story, my purpose is to show an introductory section of the novella to English readers on how complex and fascinating the Chinese culture is through literature. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.)

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148640 2026-08-25T07:12:59Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The Moroccan monarchy and the Boutchichiyya order : constructing ‘moderate Islam’ through discourse Abstract: The following dissertation presents a critical discourse analysis of how the Moroccan monarchy constructs "moderate Islam" as a political project through its alliance with the Boutchichiyya Sufi Order. Following the 2003 Casablanca bombings, the monarchy promoted Sufi Islam as the foundation of an official moderate Islam, using the Boutchichiyya as its preferred partner. Existing scholarship has documented the institutions and policies this strategy produced, but has not examined how the relationship between the monarchy and the Order is constructed in official language. This dissertation addresses that gap. It asks two questions: how is the discourse of "moderate Islam" constructed in Moroccan state communications, and what role does the Boutchichiyya play within it; and what language strategies reinforce the authority of King Mohammed VI as Commander of the Faithful through the use of Sufi discourse. The study uses Critical Discourse Analysis, specifically Ruth Wodak's Discourse-Historical Approach. The corpus consists of five Arabic-language speeches produced between 2012 and 2016: three throne day addresses by King Mohammed VI and two speeches by Ahmed Toufiq, Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and a senior Boutchichiyya member. The analysis works from the Arabic originals and traces the five DHA strategies of nomination, predication, argumentation, perspectivation, and intensification across the corpus. Four patterns run through the speeches: legitimation of royal religious authority, the construction of obedience as both religious and national duty, Qur'anic reference as a form of argumentative warrant, and the construction of Morocco as a model of moderate Islam. The Commander of the Faithful title holds these patterns together. Toufiq's dual position as state minister and senior Order member is the clearest evidence in the corpus that the state and the Boutchichiyya are not separate actors in cooperation but a single arrangement held together in particular individuals. The Order's name never appears in the speeches, and that absence is itself analytically significant. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.)

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148639 2026-08-25T07:10:17Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Shamma Hamdan’s songs and persona : a linguistic and literary analysis in the context of contemporary Emirati culture Abstract: This dissertation looks at how the Emirati singer Shamma Ḥamdan challenges gender expectations in the Gulf through her music, her lyrics, and the way she presents herself as an artist. The three songs analysed are ‘Anā Anā’ ( انأ انأ( ,’ Muʿajaba’ ( ةبجعم( , and ‘Ḥalāl wa Ḥarām’ ( للاح مارحو( . These are read alongside ʾAḥlām’s older song ‘Tadrī Leish’ ( يردت شیل( , which shows how Gulf women were represented in music from the early 2000s in comparison to modern times. The study is qualitative and draws on gender studies, feminist theories , sociolinguistics, and the analysis of song lyrics. The main argument is that Shamma Ḥamdan does not openly fight against Gulf cultural traditions or revolutionizes them. Instead she works within them, but gradually shifts what female identity can look and sound like in Khaleeji music, challenging the socially acceptable traditions, style and gender expectations. Her songs, her voice, and her public image all push against what is usually expected of women in Gulf entertainment, but in a quiet and culturally familiar way. This dissertation also contributes into a relatively unexplored area of research, which is contemporary Gulf music and the role of female artists within it. Description: B.A. (Hons)(Melit.)

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z