The Maltese community in Toronto : a proposed adult education strategy

Abstract

In this article, we focus on the Maltese community in Toronto, Canada which, we argue, is suffering from a particular kind of oppression that is given little or no consideration in the existing literature. We name this oppression as that of small nation identity. The trivialization of small countries in the minds of ethnocentric individuals, and institutions/ organizations, has a strong bearing on the subjectivity of immigrants from these places of origin. By highlighting aspects of everyday life experienced by members of the Maltese community, the voice of a subordinate group is reclaimed, providing visibility to a community which has hitherto been invisible, its voice having been immersed in the "culture of silence". We also aim to explore the contradictory discourses that characterize the community. In the second half of the paper we propose an adult education strategy intended to affirm the roots of this community and provide the basis for better democratic living within the larger Toronto community.