Karnival ta Malta

We were fortunate enough to be in Malta for Carnival (il-Karnival ta' Malta in Maltese). Carnival is a period of festivities before Lent and is most common among Roman Catholic communities. According to one of the people we talked with here, the Carnival festivities in Malta are the 5th largest in the world. Pretty impressive for such a small country. During Carnival, there are parades with colorful floats, dance events, various booths set up and many people dressed in costume.

Valletta (the capital of Malta) has one of the bigger carnival festivals in Malta so we made our way there on the old buses. Upon arrival near Valletta, we noticed lots of very brightly colored floats by the entrance to the city in preparation for the big parade that evening. Our group wandered around the town some, taking in all the sites and interesting costumes and stopped at a restaurant for an early dinner. We decided to try some traditional Maltese food including rabbit. I only tried a small piece, but we all agreed that it was not that different tasting than other meats like turkey or pork. It was interesting to see the whole chest cavity and some of the internal organs though.

After our meal, we watched the parade briefly as it began to pass by. All of the floats (and a number of the costumes as well) were bright neon colors and it was interesting to see, although definitely not what I was expecting initially.

Our group split up and continued exploring around Valletta. We talked for a while with several guys who had an adorable puppy. They were very friendly and offered a diverse perspective -- one was from France, another from Spain, another from England, and the puppy was from Malta. We took turns holding the puppy and listened to their stories and advice about things to see and places to go.

We finished our evening adventures with some more exploration of Valletta including sitting in on part of a Catholic church service, trying some Maltese desserts at a small cafe that was recommended to us, and more observation of the Carnival parade. Overall, a very full evening and an interesting insight into Maltese culture.

Malta's Sense of Self

It is quite remarkable to see how large of an influence and impact religion has on the tiny island of Malta, especially in more recent history. A 90% Christian population is not a statistic to be overlooked, and is one that falls in the top 20 countries that have high Christian percentages. As such an overwhelmingly large percentage of the people are Christian, it has become a defining factor of being Maltan since the times of St. Paul. The (relatively) recent sense of independence that Malta has experienced has produced a constitution that allows for “freedom” of religion, but at the same time declares Christianity (Roman Catholicism) as a state religion. For me at least, these seem nearly contradictory. Having a state religion established means that the government, in a way, expects the Maltese to be Christian. This leads to political decisions being aimed towards what may be religiously “correct” (i.e. ones that may promote religious ideals rather than ones that may progress the country as a whole: realize these two are not always correlated). I realize that this is simply the norm in Malta, and is likely generally regarded as a perfectly acceptable and reasonable method of making decisions. It is simply difficult for me, a member of another country which is in many respects different from this religious extreme, to understand how it has become the social norm.

In a bit of irony, the other largest defining aspect of being Maltese, based on a few of the readings, is the Maltese language itself. An extremely small number of people speak it in the world, making it unique and its speakers identifiable. The irony comes from its origins: the Arab invasion in 870 CE. This left an Islamic influence on the Maltese culture during that time which has propagated and can be seen in various aspects even today including the naming of some towns and villages. The fact that these influences are Arab in nature, conflicts with the extreme part of the culture that is now Christian. If being Maltese means pulling from conflicting ideals, it is interesting that it persists (a bit of what Dr. Gambin spoke about) throughout the culture.

Furthermore, this strong sense of belonging and the specific identifiers that the Maltese use in present day are quite different to Malta historically. Malta, being a pit-stop along trade routes and a country that has simply been ruled by the current world power (which has switched many times), has had a difficult time establishing traits that set it apart from other areas of Europe. It has simply been mainly an extension of other cultures. But since gaining its independence, it has developed a sense of self. It uses the traits discussed above, and has very recently (2004) joined the EU as its own nation. These steps of independence mark important milestones in Malta’s development. To quote Dr. Gambin again, Malta is in a state of adolescence as a country, and is still “finding itself,” which I find extremely interesting.

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http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127324.htm

http://www.guidetomalta.net/malta-culture/maltese-culture-religion/

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080726/opinion/true-maltese-identity

http://www.maltabulb.com/maltese_culture.html