Oliver Friggieri’s dizzjunarju ta’ termini letterarji : an appreciation and some reflections

Abstract

Some sense of oddity over the choice of this essay's focus might register in the reader's mind. Why, of all of Oliver Friggieri's collections of poetry, his novels, his short stories, his works of literary criticism, his translations, his biographical writings, his editing projects, his miscellaneous essays, all of which make up a corpus of distinction within Maltese literature, am I singling out for appreciation in this Festschrift his Dizzjunarju ta' Termini Letterarji: teorija, metrika, stilistika b'ezempji mil-letteratura Maltija? Part of that perhaps has to do with personal whimsy. I have an interest in the histories and practices of literary criticism and theory, and they incline me toward the Dizzjunarju. There are, however, objective grounds for holding that the Dizzjunarju, which in 2010 received a reprint of the expanded new 2000 edition ('L-Edizzjoni 1-Gdida Mkabbra') to follow upon the first edition of 1986 and the new edition of 1996, must rank among Friggieri's most noteworthy achievements. It is important to establish what those grounds might be. That's because their sharper appreciation amplifies not only Friggieri's standing as a writer and literary scholar, but also deepens understanding of quite how determining and diverse his contribution to the Maltese language and Maltese letters (this last quaintish term is not out of place here) has been.