Concetta Brincat Conference: The First Novelist

[MLT]

Nhar l-Erbgħa 15 ta’ Ottubru 2025, fil-17:30, f’Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT) tal-Università ta’ Malta, Tal-Qroqq, se ssir konferenza interdixxiplinarja bil-Malti fuq ir-rumanz Il-Familja de Valereux jew Louis Mitluf Ġewwa l-Bosk ta’ Concetta Brincat. Dan ix-xogħol, li se jiġi ppubblikat għall-ewwel darba mill-Klabb Kotba Maltin u jitnieda fil-konferenza, inkiteb fl-1919, u għalhekk huwa l-ewwel rumanz oriġinali bil-Malti miktub minn mara li nafu bih, erbgħin sena qabel Nokkla Sewda ta’ Mary Meylak. Din il-konferenza qed tittella’ mid-Dipartiment tal-Malti fl-Università ta’ Malta bl-għajnuna tal-Klabb Kotba Maltin u Heritage Malta.

Disa’ kelliema minn oqsma differenti se joffru għadd ta’ perspettivi dwar dan ir-rakkont li għandu x-xeħta ta’ rumanz tal-faxxiklu tal-bidu tas-seklu għoxrin imma għandu wkoll il-karatteristiċi pjuttost partikulari tiegħu. Fi żmien meta l-awturi Maltin kienu qegħdin jittraduċu jew jaddattaw rumanzi Taljani jew Franċiżi għall-Malti, jidher li Concetta Brincat għażlet li tikteb xogħol oriġinali imma fil-qafas tal-mudell magħruf. 

Il-ġrajjiet u l-karattri li tirrakkonta Brincat jimxu skont mudelli stabbiliti, u d-djalogu għandu sehem kbir f’rakkont li jħabbat it-tajjeb mal-ħażin. Imma fi ħdan dan il-mudell tar-rumanz tal-faxxiklu, bil-karattri tipiċi, l-avventuri, il-kumbinazzjonijiet straordinarji, it-travestimenti kontinwi, u l-emozzjonijiet kbar, hemm mumenti sbieħ meta l-karattri nisa jasserixxu l-personalità tagħhom, meta l-ikel joħloq relazzjonijiet, meta l-ilbies jirrakkonta l-awtorità soċjali u kulturali tal-karattri, jew l-umiltà tagħhom. 

Barra minn hekk, waqt li l-istorja hija ambjentata kollha kemm hi fi Franza u l-Belġju, speċjalment f’Pariġi fi żmien ir-Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża, ir-rumanz donnu jirrakkonta wkoll l-istorja ta’ familja Maltija fqira bħal dik li trabbiet fiha Concetta Brincat, xebba Sciberras, fil-Laqxija, Birkirkara, u mbagħad fil-belt ta’ Konstantina, fl-Alġerija kkolonizzata mill-Franċiżi.

Il-konferenza se tinfetaħ mill-Prof. Carmen Sammut, Prorettur għall-Affarijiet tal-Istudenti u l-Impjegati u l-Kuntatt mal-Komunità. Il-kelliema fl-ewwel parti se jkunu l-Prof. Adrian Grima, l-editur tar-rumanz, li se jitkellem fuq x’provi testwali għandna f’idejna biex ngħidu li dan mhuwiex traduzzjoni jew addattament tax-xogħol ta’ ħaddieħor; Maria Simiana li se titkellem fuq il-proċess tat-traskrizzjoni tar-rumanz mill-pitazzi li kitbet fuqhom l-awtriċi; l-istorika Dr Simone Azzopardi li se tqiegħed ir-rakkont fil-kuntest tal-ġrajja tar-Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża u l-ħajja f’Malta fl-ewwel għoxrin sena tas-seklu għoxrin; Dr Marilyn Mallia li se taqra dan l-ewwel rumanz ta’ mara bil-Malti fid-dawl tal-konvenzjonjiiet tar-rumanz popolari fl-Ewropa ta’ żmienha; u u Francesca Xuereb, li se titkellem fuq l-iżvilupp tal-karattri femminili f’dan ir-rumanz.

Fit-tieni parti, se jitkellmu Fr Ray Gatt OP, li se jiddiskuti l-elementi reliġjużi; Dr Noel Buttigieg li se jħares lejn il-kultura tal-ikel u x-xorb li jidħlu regolarment fl-istorja; Caroline Tonna li se tifli s-sinifikat tal-ħafna deskrizzjonijiet tal-ilbies tan-nobbli u tan-nies komuni; u Annamaria Gatt, minn Heritage Malta, li se turi xi lbies li jissemma fir-rumanz u li jinsab fil-kollezzjoni nazzjonali, fosthom il-kabozza.

Id-dħul għall-Konferenza Concetta Brincat: L-Ewwel Rumanziera huwa b’xejn u jista’ jattendi kulħadd.

Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT) tinsab maġenb id-daħla tal-Fakultà tal-Arti, wara Sala Temi Zammit.

Aktar tagħrif fuq il-paġna tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti fuq Facebook.

[ENG]

On Wednesday 15 October 2025, at 17:00, at Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT) of the University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, an interdisciplinary conference in Maltese will be held on the novel Il-Familja de Valereux or Louis Mitluf Ġewwa l-Bosk by Concetta Brincat. This work, which will be published for the first time by the Maltin Book Club and launched at the conference, was written in 1919, making it the first original novel in Maltese written by a woman that we know of, forty years before Nokkla Sewda by Mary Meylak.

This conference is being organised by the Department of Maltese at the University of Malta with the support of the Maltin Book Club and Heritage Malta.

Nine speakers from different fields will offer a number of perspectives on this tale which has the appearance of an early twentieth century paperback novel but also has its own rather particular characteristics. At a time when Maltese authors were translating or adapting Italian or French novels into Maltese, Concetta Brincat seems to have chosen to write an original work but within the framework of the well-known model.

The events and characters that Brincat narrates follow established patterns, and dialogue plays a major role in a tale that pits good against evil. But within this model of the fascicle novel, with its typical characters, adventures, extraordinary combinations, continuous disguises, and great emotions, there are beautiful moments when the female characters assert their personality, when food creates relationships, when clothing tells the story of the characters' social and cultural authority, or their humility.

Furthermore, while the story is set entirely in France and Belgium, especially in Paris during the French Revolution, the novel also seems to tell the story of a poor Maltese family like the one in which Concetta Brincat, née Sciberras, grew up, in Laqxija, Birkirkara, and then in the town of Constantine, in French-colonized Algeria.

The conference will be opened by Prof. Carmen Sammut, Pro-Rector for Student and Staff Affairs and Community Outreach. The speakers in the first part will be Prof. Adrian Grima , the editor of the novel, who will speak on what textual evidence we have to say that this is not a translation or adaptation of someone else's work; Maria Simiana who will speak on the process of transcribing the novel from the manuscripts on which the author wrote; historian Dr Simone Azzopardi who will place the story in the context of the events of the French Revolution and life in Malta in the first twenty years of the twentieth century; Dr Marilyn Mallia who will read this the first novel by a woman in Maltese in light of the conventions of the popular novel in Europe of its time; and Francesca Xuereb , who will speak on the development of the female characters in this novel.

In the second part, Fr Ray Gatt OP will speak, who will discuss the religious elements; Dr Noel Buttigieg who will look at the culture of food and drink that regularly feature in history; Caroline Tonna who will examine the significance of the many descriptions of the clothing of the nobility and common people; and Annamaria Gatt, from Heritage Malta, who will show some of the clothing mentioned in the novel and found in the national collection, including the kabozza.

Admission to the Concetta Brincat: The First Novelist Conference is free and open to all.

Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT) is located next to the entrance to the Faculty of Arts, behind Sala Temi Zammit.

More information on the Department of Maltese's Facebook page .