Memory, identity and community : a study of the Greek community in Malta

Abstract

The fieldwork for this dissertation was carried out throughout the year between April 1992 and April 1993. The fact that the Greek community does not occupy a particular geographical area, and since the majority who happen to be females and married to Maltese, tracing of Greek names and people was somewhat difficult during the early stages of the research. Knowing personally one of the informants helped me to get over the formal introductions with the Consul who, in turn made the first encounter with the community somewhat easier as he gave me some background knowledge about the ritual. Initially informants were referred to me by Maltese people who knew about my study. Later on, contacts were made by word of mouth as one informant after another got to know about the research. A number of the informants were second generation people. These people, turned out to be very helpful in constructing the community they knew as children.