'Il-Qalb Kbira tal-Maltin' : L-‘Istrina’ and the production of solidarity

Abstract

This dissertation makes use of both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to look at the annual telethon of L-Istrina. Apart from qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, I have also viewed three past broadcasts of the telethon, those of 2008, 2009 and 2019. Additionally, I also analysed an ex-President’s biography, as part of my data. With regards to literature, I looked into various sources, all relating to my three main themes of nation, emotion and media. Through the gathered data, together with the literature, I was able to shed light onto the research questions which I had asked in the early days of this dissertation. As will be discussed, L-Istrina is a philanthropic telethon which effectively unites a large portion of the Maltese nation in order to come together in solidarity with the ultimate aim of raising money. My main research question, then, asks, how does this telethon produce solidarity? Three research questions branch out of the main one, each directly related to my themes; What kind of community is the solidarity of L-Istrina produced in?, what is the role of emotions in this production of solidarity?, and, finally, how does the spectacle of L-Istrina result in solidarity? And through my sources, I have come to conclude that this telethon manages to produce solidarity through borrowing from narratives of nationhood, the production of emotions, and its high social visibility and prominence in the social calendar.