‘Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox’ and Dom Mintoff’s political discourse : interpellative rhetoric in a Mediterranean setting

Abstract

This dissertation addresses itself towards the political sequence which is identified with Dom Mintoff’s slogan ‘Malta l-Ewwel u Qabel Kollox / Malta First and Foremost’ (MLQK). In particular, it examines the logic of interpellation governing three distinct phases of that sequence: the push for Integration and British recognition; the struggle against the perceived and asserted right of the Church to retain the granular control over the fabric of Maltese society which its symbiotic relationship with the British Empire had enabled; and the march towards political and economic stability after Independence through the formation of a hard state and the attempt to integrate emancipatory and compensatory drives. In turn, each of these three distinct phases is examined from the perspective of their defining interpellations: ‘we want to / must be British,’ ‘soldiers of steel,’ and ‘we are Maltese, we are workers.’ Informed by the notion that the meaning of successful political slogans is to be found in what they do, rather than what they say, the work will examine how Mintoff’s political discourse, in its interpellative function, was founded in an orientation towards an aesthetic vision of ‘Britishness,’ and ‘modernity,’ and its relative success in adapting to new obstacles and changing circumstances. It will conclude by posing the question of how MLQK makes it possible to grasp as part of one common thrust the three distinct struggles which were spearheaded by Mintoff and the MLP.