An introduction to the evolution of Maltese modern poetry

Abstract

The presence of a modern poetic awareness in Malta may be safely traced back to the sixties and may be considered as a literary aspect of the local younger generation's participation in the student's revolutionary movement. In Malta the need for change was first indicated by a new crop of writers who were not satisfied solely with Malta's political independence but demanded also a moral and a cultural one. On one side, this new conscience was a sharp reaction against literary decadence; on the other, however, it was an indication of a new mentality which wanted to look at Malta, and consequently at its literature, as an integral part of the outer world. [excerpt]