Francis Ebejer : the Maltese Janus : the bilingual duality in Ebejer's twin novels

Abstract

The identity of the Maltese as a people has always been a top-notch prerogative on the island. Ravaged by many colonies, the Maltese preserved their self in their mother tongue - Maltese. Being ruled by both the British and the Italian, Malta had to adapt and adopt the customs and language of these two stronger powers. Malta was therefore a bilingual country being torn apart by these two opposing factions. This in turn generated elitism, snobbery and hatred amongst the Maltese themselves and constantly cast into shadow anything which belonged to the primordial origins which Ebejer defends with his heart and soul. Ebejer depicts this polarity in his novels by putting, as a backdrop to the unfolding tales, the hardships of World War II; an event of conflict in its literal and metaphorical self. This dissertation reflects on the bi-polar phenomena that took hold of the Maltese Islands as painted in his twin novels, (as Charles Briffa has termed them), 'Requiem for Malta a Fascist' and 'The Maltese Baron ... and I Lucian' together with the chapter of his life or essay 'The Bilingual Writer (Mediterranean-Maltese and English) as Janus'. The dissertation examines this bi-polarity by analyzing the plot, personas and landscape of the novels themselves. The dissertation also refers to other of Ebej er' s works. It is a study of the brewing tensions on the island as seen through the eyes of the imti-heroes. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the bilingual tensions by delving into the mirroring effect that Ebejer constructs in his novels, that of his personas' inner conflict and the conflict of the outside world. The surged tensions are a product of the bilingual situation that seems to have furrowed the country. However, ironically through this tension, these two aspects of identity are inter-connecting. This dissertation attempts to apply some post-colonialist essayists including Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Isabelle de Courtivron and Assia Djebar to Ebejer's chosen novels. Moreover, a Jungian approach is applied to the reading of the texts to justify the personas' predicaments. The aim of this dissertation is to try to understand Ebejer's bilingual writing tendencies.