Negotiating a Postmemory Dichotomy: Nostalgia and Aversion in Malta

Authors

  • George Cassar University of Malta
  • Marie Avellino University of Malta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.65.17

Keywords:

Malta, British colony, tourism industry, nostalgia, colonial aversion

Abstract

The island of Malta has served as a strategic colony since the dawn of history. Since Phoenician and Roman times, the island has been an important base in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Its last colonisers, the British, spent about 180 years using the islands for their imperial needs. The official closing of the British base on 31 March 1979 heralded a new economic and social reality supposedly unhampered by the exigencies of foreigners. Two major post-memory reactions kicked in – nostalgia and aversion to ex-colonial life. The postcolonial Maltese generations exhibit a range of reactions oscillating between love and hate for the British. On the other hand, British ex-service personnel and their families have continued to feel an affinity with the island base which they had come to acknowledge as a second home. This allows for a new type of relationship between the Maltese people and their British visitors where issues of colonial post-memory are negotiated. These are seen at their best in the local tourism industry. Malta woos British tourists and goes to great effort to attract them. It uses to its advantage the colonial affinity to create an attractive destination for the British which benefits the locals and the Maltese economy. In Malta post-memory has evolved in line with necessity and expediency, where animosity, though manifestly tangible, has gradually morphed into a rather benign residue in the collective reaction to the colonial past.

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Author Biographies

  • George Cassar, University of Malta

    Associate Professor in the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture (ITTC) of the University of Malta. He is a historical sociologist whose main research interests include the History and Sociology of Education; the Pedagogy of Heritage, History and Social Studies; the History of History Teaching; the Study of the Order of St. John (SMOM); the History and Culture of Malta; Heritage and Culture; Cultural Tourism; and, the Culture and Sociology of Food. He is the author or editor of numerous books and academic journals, and has contributed many papers in journals and chapters in books related to his areas of interest. He is very much involved in EU funded projects where he has served in a number of roles including that of project manager in the lead partner role. He was for three years a member of the Research Coordinating Committee of the ‘Valletta 2018’ – Valletta European Capital of Culture 2018 – representing the University of Malta and also headed the V18 Secretariat on campus. Between 2017 and 2020 he sat on the Board of Directors of the Malta Tourism Authority.

  • Marie Avellino, University of Malta

    Director of the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture at the University of Malta. Her research interests include Social Anthropology, Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Older Adults and Seniors, Cultural Identities, Intercultural Competencies for Management and Visitor Experience Management. Her EU-Funded Projects experience includes 2012–2014 Lead Researcher in the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme, entitled Socialising Tourism, SoTo and the 2013–2015 – Project Manager for Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme, entitled Heritage Interpretation for Senior Audiences, HISA and the more recent involvement such as Project Manager for two 2018–2021 Erasmus + Key Action 2 Strategic Partnerships with the Project Title ‘Boosting blue Entrepreneurs’ competences toward an environmental care ecosystem’ (BLUESPROUT) and the 2019–2021 Skills for promotion, valorisation, exploitation, mediation and interpretation of European Cultural Heritage (EUHeritage).

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Published

30-04-2020

How to Cite

“Negotiating a Postmemory Dichotomy: Nostalgia and Aversion in Malta ”. 2020. Politeja 17 (2(65): 239-56. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.65.17.

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