An exploration of Gozitan band club culture and parish politics

Abstract

The Maltese Archipelago is comprised of three islands; Malta, Comino, and Gozo. It is a Catholic nation who observes the cult of saints in the form of the feast day celebrations, otherwise known as festa. Jeremy Boissevain published his seminal work, Saints and Fireworks: Religion and Politics in Rural Malta in 1965. Though it has been 43 years since the publishing of this work, it is still considered the leading resource on the topic social anthropology in the Mediterranean, but specifically for Malta. Using Boissevain’s work as a foundation and my recent trip to Gozo, I will explore the relations between competing persons and groups, particularly those related to the religious and secular celebrations associated with festa, and how competition between band club groups has gone from being sometimes violent to more friendly with a change in the demographic of the committee members, e.g. different political affiliation and socio-economic status. I will demonstrate the complexity of Maltese life. Whether the Maltese have learned to preserve their band club culture and festa celebrations as a direct result of conflict resolution is still a work in progress, though great strides have been made to protect the outward appearance of unity amongst the Maltese. The question still exists as to whether they have succeeded.