This Fair Land: An Anthology of Maltese Literature 

Edited by Charles Briffa

(Francis Boutle Publishers, £25)

THIS beautiful book is the sixth volume in the Francis Boutle series of

literary anthologies from lesser used European languages. 

Malta, an archipelago of small islands with a population of less than 500,000, is one of the worlds smallest countries, gaining its independence from Britain in 1964 and becoming a republic in 1974. 

Maltese is Europe’s only indigenous Semitic language, a remnant of the Punic tongue of north Africa, with many words common to Persian. It is also the only Semitic language to use the Roman alphabet.

Sicilian Arabic, Turkish, the Romance languages and, in more recent times, English have all left their mark on this multi-layered language. That may account for its flexibility and ability to absorb and utilise new elements from other languages as required. 

This is a remarkable story of a “low-status” spoken language kept alive and evolving among the lower classes on a tiny island kicked and tossed from one powerful nation to another. 

It was a language with no literary tradition until the mid-18th century and this anthology is a tribute to the lower classes and the writers who have subsequently given it a vibrant and not inconsiderable literature.

Professor Briffa provides his own interpretation of Maltese national identity in the light of the statements of poets, novelists and playwrights over the last few centuries and this anthology also contains important elements of literary criticism and social comment.

Its content varies from proverbs to plays, television drama, poetry, novels, journalism and even instructions on how to fire a musket. 

The proverbs — “When danger is over, we forget promises,” “He who says what he wants, must hear what he does not want [to hear]” — as always, command interest. 

Extracts from historical novels are a feature of the earlier works included, with the foreigner — whether Ottoman, French or Spanish — abusing the locals and peasants who revolted against the oppressors’ yoke. 

There is much that is cheerful, warm and beautiful from lands surrounded by the Mediterranean sea.

I particularly enjoyed the translations of the haikus of Maurice Mifsud Bonnici or Peresso’s They Robbed Me, Trevor Zahra’s children’s story in Adventures from Poppy Valley and act 1 of Francis Ebejers play Il-Gahan ta’ Bingemma. 

Many will be familiar with Malta as a tourist destination but this volume will give visitors a new insight to the islands and a language to fascinate students of philology. 

A great read.

Gwyn Griffiths