The feminine image in Maltese romantic poetry

Abstract

The Maltese literary experience, covering a period of about two hundred years, may be largely understood as an offshoot of the Italian tradition, and particularly of its presence in the Southern part of Italy. The historical and cultural continuity between Malta and Sicily, the geographical position, the insular identity, the special limitation, the far reaching effects of a previous long literary tradition in Italian formed by Maltese writers: these are some of the characteristics which can easily give the Maltese experience such a regional significance. On the other hand, the identity itself of Malta as an island which for various centuries has sought to survive and to maintain its uniqueness is an important aspect of this contrasting and paradoxical reality. Set within the pre-established limits of a condition which is equally continental and insular, the interpretation of literature has implications which far transcend literature. Isolation has been a determining factor but there is enough evidence that the island has long been aware of being at the centre of the Mediterranean, a geographical and cultural entity with which the island established strong ties of various sorts. The literary attitudes which will be briefly outlined here can thus be defined as typical of the island and of the whole region and simultaneously as having their own historical rhythm of development profoundly different from that of neighbouring countries.