• The governing gaze of masculinity in contemporary culture 

  Vella, John Paul (University of Malta, 2018)

  Contemporary culture bombards us with perfectly touched up images of men in a day and age where we are simultaneously told that we should love our bodies for whatever they may look like – hairy, fat, bald, short, skinny, ...
• Perceptions of Maltese English : an experimental study 

  Stilon, Elena Marie (University of Malta, 2018)

  In order to understand what constitutes sociolinguistic variation, comprehension of the information it imparts to listeners is required. Variation conveys social meaning, perception and as a result, social structures ...
• Representing reality : memory and history in the works of Julian Barnes 

  Sammut, Geraldine (University of Malta, 2018)

  The last century in literary history can be partially understood as a reaction to the realism that characterised nineteenth-century literature. This dissertation proposes that, despite this reaction, realism can now ...
• Defenders and offenders of nature : an exploration of leading female characters in contemporary environmental film 

  Irwin, Jessica (University of Malta, 2018)

  Since the first wave of environmentalism began in the 1970s, an increasing global awareness of environmental issues has made the topic increasingly culturally significant. By the turn of the 21st century, a growing cinematic ...
• Beneficent, life-enhancing literature, again? : examining the condition of English literary studies in the post-theoretical contemporary 

  Cortis, Lara (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation is pre-eminently concerned with the state of affairs in contemporary literary studies. It is angled to reflect on the perceived contemporary crisis in view of challenges facing the discipline, and is ...
• Breaking Beckettian borders 

  Ricards, Lydia Hope (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation will deal with how Samuel Beckett manages to break borders and exist in an in-between space. The main works that will be discussed are Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable, which will be further noted ...
• Literature in the ELT classroom : a stylistic approach to engaging with literary texts 

  Dimech, Lindsay (University of Malta, 2018)

  This study investigates young adolescent readers and their ability to engage, understand and interpret literary texts, with the use of the stylistic method which provides a heuristic model that guides the readers through ...
• Female robots and cyborgs : identity, technology and gender in mainstream cinema 

  Borg, Mandy (University of Malta, 2018)

  The rapid advancement in the technological industry, including the creation of Artificial Intelligence and human augmentation, is altering the relationship between humans and technology. This manipulation of the natural ...
• Social empathy within the dramatic monologues of Carol Ann Duffy 

  Caruana, Martina E. (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation will look at the dramatic monologues of Carol Ann Duffy in order to explore how the dramatic monologue can inspire social empathy in the reader. The history of the dramatic monologue has a long tradition ...
• Whose streets? : a Rancierian analysis of photographic streetscapes in Google Street View 

  Buhagiar, Roberta (University of Malta, 2018)

  In the contemporary moment, Google’s geo-photographic software Google Street View has reached quotidian status. With an aim to capture every single streetscape worldwide and reproduce the ensuing images in a web-accessible, ...
• According to thy word : the modern Madonna in early twentieth and twenty-first century English literature 

  Borg Ebejer, Warren James (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation examines the presence of the Virgin Mary in both early twentieth and twenty-first century literature. Although recourse to her has endured in both contemporary spaces of faith and the arts, her presence ...
• ‘A touch that never hurts’ : representations of the figure of the nurse and nursing in literary fiction 

  Scerri, Mariella (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation attempts to elicit a didactic representation of care both in fiction and non-fiction works, positioning literature as a means to explore the role of the nurse within the health care scene and more ...
• Bilingualism in grade V Maltese primary schools : a sociolinguistic perspective 

  Frendo, Romina (University of Malta, 2018)

  Chapter 1, Article 5 of the Constitution of Malta (1964) (Il-Kostituzzjoni Ta’ Malta) recognises Maltese as the national language of Malta, whilst it accords both Maltese and English the status of official languages. ...
• ‘A manifestation of being human?’ : a study of identity, myth, and genre in Margaret Atwood’s writing 

  Zerafa, Lara (University of Malta, 2018)

  The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate Margaret Atwood’s portrayal of identity, myth, and genre in her novels; three notions which the author brilliantly combines together. By looking at Atwood’s literary career ...
• From acquisition to abjuration : magic and its extravagant promise in canonical and popular fantasy literature 

  Zerafa, Ian (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation seeks to analyse the use of magic in literature. Criticism on magic is surprisingly disproportionate to its prevalence as a plot device. Three texts, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, J.R.R. Tolkien’s ...
• Spirituality and religious beliefs in selected fiction by Ishmael Reed 

  Zammit, Terry (University of Malta, 2018)

  The aim of this dissertation is to analyse spirituality and religious beliefs in two selected novels by Ishmael Reed: Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down and Mumbo Jumbo. The main argument being presented is that in these two ...
• The shoe might not always fit : gender and diversity in fairy-tales and contemporary retellings 

  Zammit, Martina (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation offers a comparative analysis of some of the most known classical fairy-tales with lesser known contemporary retellings. The lack of diversity found in the classical tales and the way contemporary retellings ...
• Preserving the irish identity in modern literature : a study on the writing styles of W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge and James Joyce 

  Vella, Ryan (University of Malta, 2018)

  In this dissertation I will be looking at how three writers in particular W.B.Yeats, J.M.Synge and James Joyce capture the Irish Identity. These writers do not simply retell history, but use metaphors, symbols and create ...
• 'To everything there is a season’ : tracing hope across the themes and motifs in Ali Smith's novel quartet 

  Theuma, Martha (University of Malta, 2018)

  This dissertation will attempt to trace hope in the themes and motifs that Ali Smith tackles in her four-piece seasonal novel quartet; a series of four books of which two have been published—and these are the two I will ...
• Ambivalence in Hawthorne 

  Pocock, Elena (University of Malta, 2018)

  In this dissertation we provide three different perspectives on the nature of Ambivalence in a wide selection of works by the American 19th Century writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Chapter 1 concerns itself with an exploration ...

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