https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/697 Tue, 16 Jun 2026 01:52:43 GMT 2026-06-16T01:52:43Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147434 Title: Introduction : deconstruction and twenty-first century thought, part 1 : the new realisms Authors: Lynes, Philippe; Young, Niki Abstract: In his 2018 article ‘État present: Post-Deconstructive Thought and Criticism’, Ian James identified four thinkers whose reception had produced what he called a ‘post-deconstructive naturalism’ in contemporary scholarship–François Laruelle, Jean-Luc Nancy, Catherine Malabou, and Bernard Stiegler–each of whom had ‘taken up and developed deconstruction in ways which echo Derrida’s thought but which, at the same time, emerge as distinctly un-Derridean’ (James 2018, 85). For James, the ontological, materialist, and realist concerns shared by these four had served to further open the humanities onto engagements with the natural sciences. Questions of physical materiality, energy, organic life, ecology, and artificial intelligence now dominate scholarship in animal studies, ecocriticism, new materialism, posthumanism, and speculative realism. Since 2018, however, three of these thinkers have passed away: Stiegler in 2020, Nancy in 2021, and Laruelle in 2024. [extract] Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147434 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147370 Title: CounterText : volume 12 : issue 1 Authors: Callus, Ivan; Corby, James Abstract: - Table of Contents:; Editorial; Kevin Hart : The CounterText Interview. At the Margins of Mystery - Kevin Hart and Robert Farrugia; Guest Editors’ Introduction: Frame/Framing - Paweł Kaczmarski and Marta Koronkiewicz; This is going to be about everything; or, Framing the Limits of the Post-Literary - Ivan Callus; Organic Unity in the Age of the Free Market: The Pragmatist Tradition and the Question of Frame - Adam Partyka; Rimbaud Framing Kiefer Framing Joyce - Rod Mengham; One Moment, Two Frames: The Peripheral Coast - Dragana Rankovic; Easels Warped My Flesh; or, Could Ansel Adams Win the World Press Photo of the Year? - Mateusz Zaboklicki; Framing Yourself: Autofiction and Form - Zuzanna Sala and Łukasz Zurek; Gordonalia: an excerpt from Situations - Ansgar Allen; Notes on Contributors Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147370 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147358 Title: Editorial [CounterText, 12(1)] Authors: Callus, Ivan; Corby, James Abstract: It feels almost inevitable that the previous number of CounterText, a special issue on the theme of Omission/s, should be followed up with a number centred on Frame/Framing. What to include when not omitting, and how, in that act, to (re)frame criteriologies, conceptualities, ideas, practices, and more, becomes a theme that carries both consequence and continuity across the journal’s pages. There is, in fact, a case that could be made for reading the two issues together, even though they are each their own individual project. Each emerges from separate CounterText roundtables, with the one on Frame/Framing taking place at the Faculty of Letters in the University of Wrocław, 24–25 January 2025 and convened by Paweł Kaczmarski and Marta Koronkiewicz, this number’s guest editors (the prior issue is linked to a roundtable that took place at the University of Naples, Parthenope, in June 2024). Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147358 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147235 Title: A fortified historic port : exploring the intersection between urban geomorphology, street morphology and touristic land use of Valletta, Senglea and Vittoriosa in the Grand Harbour of Malta Authors: Gauci, Ritienne; Bajada, Therese; Schembri, John A.; Bounan, Camille; Desponds, Charlotte; Behloul, Laurie Abstract: This chapter explores the link between urban geomorphology, street network and tourism-oriented land use in the Grand Harbour of Malta, focusing on the walled historic conurbations of Valletta, Vittoriosa and Senglea. The Grand Harbour, a natural deep port formed by a submerged ria valley, has a long history of port activities and is flanked by these three walled cities each situated on prominent peninsulas, and interconnected through military and maritime history. Over the years, land transport in this area and beyond changed in relation to the activities and needs in Malta. Demographic trends also fluctuated according to the economic activities that dominated the harbour area, leading to different population densities. In this study, a range of primary data – field data collection and secondary data (GIS data from government entities) – were modelled on ArcGIS Pro V.3.3, with initial results showing correlations between geomorphological features and infrastructure variables such as staircase streets and stepped pavements, accommodating street gradients which exceed 10%. Digital Terrain Models were used to further illustrate the connection between geomorphology and the human element. This work highlights the significance of physical geography in shaping the urban form of walled port towns through street infrastructure and land use. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147235 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z