Has Malta Always Been Part of Europe?

Winckler Barbara

Zusammenfassung

"A ‘Third' between East and West? Malta in the Works of the Levantine Polymath Fāris al-Shidyāq (1804-1887)" By its mere geographical location in the middle of the Mediterranean, the island of Malta occupies a central (and intermediate) position. Successively ruled by diverse powers - including the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs and finally the British - it has always been a site for cultural encounters and entanglements. Today, Malta is quite naturally thought of as a part of Europe. But has this always been the case? How are Malta and the Maltese characterized in former times? There are a number of descriptions of Malta by European travelers, especially from the 19th century, who most often did not stay a long time on the island. On the other side, we have, for instance, the works of a nineteenth-century Arab intellectual who spent about 14 years in Malta: Fāris al-Shidyāq (1804-1887), a Levantine polymath and a controversial critic in social, political as well as linguistic matters, spent some of his formative years in Malta (1834-48), working as a translator, language teacher, proofreader and editor for the Arabic printing press that had only recently been installed in Malta by British missionaries. Considering his checkered life, al-Shidyāq seems to be predestinated for discussing cultural difference. Born in Mount Lebanon into a Maronite family, al-Shidyāq first converted to Protestantism, then to Islam. In his early twenties, he left his home country and lived and worked in several places, from Cairo over Malta to England, Paris, Tunis and finally Istanbul where he set up an important journal and publishing house. This paper will analyze how al-Shidyāq presents Malta and the Maltese, focusing on two of his works: al-Wāsiṭa fi maʿrifat aḥwāl Mālṭa, a description of Malta first published in 1836, and al-Sāq ʿalā al-sāq, a more literary text published in 1855. Depicting various aspects of the island and its inhabitants (geography, nature, food, habits, clothes, music and language) - mostly in negative terms -, he contrasts their manners with those of ‘the Europeans' (al-ifranj), especially the English, on the one hand and with those of ‘the Orientals' (al-sharqiyyūn) or those ‘in our lands' (fī bilādinā) on the other, thus implicitly defining Malta as a ‘third'. For the conference program, see http://agya.info/fileadmin/user_upload/PDFs/Malta_Program_02_09_2015.pdf.