WIPSS Seminar: To Dwell, Perchance to Dream
Event: WIPSS - Work in Progress Seminar Series seminar by Amy Galea
Date: Thursday 12 February 2026
Time: 17:00-19:00
Venue: Faculty of Arts Library, 2nd Floor, Old Humanities Building, University of Malta
Image - photo by Amy Galea
Title: To Dwell, Perchance to Dream: Homing National Imaginaries in the city of Mdina
Presenter: Amy Galea
Convenors: Prof. Michael Briguglio, Francois Zammit, Dr Dylan Cassar, Dr Niki Young
More information is available online.
Abstract: Some places have qualities attributed to them which make them important sites for collective remembering and imagining. Mdina, a fortified city in central Malta, is one such place for those who dwell within it and those who visit or work within its walls. The city is deeply layered with history and is shaped by its heritage, memory and fantasy. The study adopts a qualitative research design combining visual ethnography, participant observation and semi-structured interviews with residents, visitors and people working in the heritage and tourism sectors in Mdina.
The data gathered demonstrates how Mdina is a crucial oneiric space, in Bachelard’s (1994) sense, for the Maltese nation. It is a place that allows people to dream of the past, that sparks the imagination through an interplay between experiences of the material and the emotional, evoking a sense of comfort that recalls a feeling of home. The research highlights the tensions between Mdina’s everyday life and its existence as a site curated by and for the nation by focusing on memory, performance and home-making. It contributes to sociological understandings of place-making, national identity, and urban heritage by foregrounding the everyday, symbolic and affective dimensions of historic spaces.
Bio:
Amy Galea is currently working with the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) as an Executive in Policy and Training. Amy has recently completed her Master’s degree in Sociology, following the attainment of a First-Class Honours B.A. in Sociology at the University of Malta. Her master’s research project, entitled To Dwell, Perchance to Dream: Homing National Imaginaries in the City of Mdina, was supervised by Prof. Mark Anthony Falzon. The study explores how the historic city of Mdina is actively made an oneiric space for the nation by shedding light on the intersecting material and social dimensions that shape the lived and imagined realities of this historic city.
