https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/41222 2026-04-10T10:05:59Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/41688 Title: Theatre in Malta Abstract: The two most popular forms of theatre in Malta are farce and melodrama. These are the main ingredients of what the Maltese call tijatrin, a term which, generally speaking, refers both to a type of theatre as well as to an entire evening's entertainment at the theatre. 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/41687 Title: Contemporary Maltese literature : an interim report Abstract: In discussing immigrant ethnic groups, Geoff Dench finds evidence that among Maltese in London there is 'widespread complicity in electing a non-Maltese identity.' This reflected itself particularly in non-performance of previously sacrosanct religious duties such as hearing mass and going to confession. This is particularly true of Maltese in the red light district of Soho round Frith and Greek Street, where the dominant dialect happens to be Maltese expressed primarily in four-letter words. Yet the swear-words and blasphemies against what "the emigrants had previously held to be sacred are, paradoxically, significant links to their island home. It is reaction and over-reaction to upbringing, and I have seen the most hardened dissidents from our monolithic theocracy prepare with awe and longing for a christening or wedding, and watched them later caught up unavoidably in the long-remembered rituals of religious ceremony. 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/41686 Title: The changing status of women in Malta Abstract: Change in the status and role of women is indicative of overall change within a society. By status I mean, the collection of rights and duties, associated with polar positions in a pattern of reciprocal behavior, while roles are the dynamic aspect of status, the putting into effect of its rights and duties. Each society can be viewed as a balanced collection of statuses and roles interwoven into a particular cultural pattern. Change comes to a ·society when the cultural pattern IS altered. This can happen in two ways: (1) the number of statuses within a society can either be increased or decreased thus changing the pattern, for example, the status of midwife and the Status of marriage broker have both disappeared from Maltese society while there are many new technical statuses not in existence 100 years ago. (2) Through time the behaviors associated with a particular status and viewed as acceptable by the society in question can change. It is this change, the alteration of behavioral patterns with which I am concerned at this time. 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/41685 Title: Religious symbolism in a changing Malta Abstract: This paper attempts to analyse the interaction between social change and religion in Malta. I do not intend to go into the at times overdrawn theoretical discussions on what one means by religion; in the Maltese context questions related to problems of ultimate meaning have, for centuries, been answered within the framework of one religious ideology - that of the Catholic Church. In a sense, therefore, this discussion will have to restrict itself to an analysis of the interaction between social change and one particular form of structured religion. On the basis of my data I should then like to suggest ways in which the Maltese experience might contribute some valuable insights to the theoretical discussion on secularization. 1977-01-01T00:00:00Z