The medicinal qualities of snow

I think I had a touch of swine flu the other week. Just a touch, you understand—not the whole hog. Even so, my limbs felt as heavy as Parsifal without the attendant mythic vision, my voice descended to sepulchral realms un-trod even by Russian basses, and a backing cough sent my ageing body into the kind of spasms that used to kill Romantic poets and Puccini heroines on a weekly basis. To make matters worse, I am not even joking. It became even more catastrophic when I felt haunted by the pressing need to ‘read, think, and write’, for I was scheduled to submit a paper to antae: A Postgraduate Journal on the Interspaces of English Studies in just a few days.peer-reviewe

Landmarks in Maltese Constitutional History 1849-1974

On 23 June 2011 the Central Bank of Malta hosted a high level symposium in Valletta on the occasion of the launch of the first in a series of five €2 coins commemorating landmarks in Maltese constitutional history. The speakers comprised Chief Justice Emeritus John J. Cremona, who had drafted the Malta Independence constitution of 1964, and President Emeritus Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations to modify this constitution essentially by changing its model from that of a Constitutional Monarchy to one of a Republic in 1974. Both these distinguished panellists, therefore, spoke to a large extent from direct personal experience. The two other speakers were necessarily more academic in their presentations because they very validly discussed earlier constitutions, well beyond living memory. Dr Sergio Portelli, a university lecturer who holds a doctorate in Italian, spoke about the 1849 constitution, its Risorgimento associations and its aftermath, drawing to some extent on his doctoral thesis on a history of Italian language journalism in Malta. Dr Albert Ganado, a former president of the Malta Historical Society and very well versed in modern Maltese history, I asked to discuss the advent of representative government in 1887, through what some have called the 'Holland' constitution, a reference Sir Henry Holland (later Baron Knutsford) , who was the secretary of state for the colonies in London at the time that it was conceded, after a sustained and increasingly bitter nationalist struggle. This was a progressive development, allowing the Maltese a majority of elected members on the Council of Government - but, alas, not such a lasting one, as it would be withdrawn in 1903 when political viewpoints and attitudes came to a head and became irreconcilable.peer-reviewe

Parents know best : an examination of parent perceptions and subsequent proposals for a more efficient bilingual education experience in the primary years cycle

In the light of Mayo’s definition of ‘praxis’ (Mayo, 2018) where it is posited that this involves a critical evaluation of a concept through the adoption of impartiality and consequently seeks to bring about change as necessary, this paper evaluates the results of a large scale quantitative survey with 1318 parents whose children attended Grade V - the penultimate class in the primary years’ educational cycle. The paper examines these respondents’ perceptions on current Maltese and English language practices in their children’s classrooms and presents what parents perceive as possible solutions towards an improvement in the quality of bilingual education experience for young learners.peer-reviewe

Excavations at Tas-Silg, 1996

For the first time ever, the Department of Classics and Archaeology of the University of Malta conducted its own excavations at the site of Tas-Silg which is located at Marsaxlokk in the south-east of the island of Malta. These excavations were directed by the authors, who would like to thank Mr Simon Mason and Mr Nicholas Vella who were responsible for the field supervision. We would also like to thank the area supervisors, namely Mr Andrew Appleyard, Ms Carmen Michelle 'Buhagiar, Ms Aloisia de Trafford, Mr Joseph Magro Conti, Mr Paul C. Saliba as well as Mr Andre Corrado; the latter agreed to act as an area supervisor for a while when the need arose. Obviously, we do also appreciate very much all the hard work of the "diggers" who were in fact students from.the aforementioned Department of Classics and Archaeology, the foreign and local students who formed part of the first Summer School in Archaeology which was organized by the International Office of the University of Malta, and some very eager and hard-working volunteers.peer-reviewe

L-ispirtu tal-liberta’ : x’fissret il-waqa’ tal-hajt ta’ Berlin

Biex nifhmu x'fissret il-waqa' tal-hajt ta' Berlin f'Novembru tal-1989 irridu niftakru ftit x'kien wassal ghall-kostruzzjoni tal-hajt f' Awissu tal-1961.peer-reviewe

Analisi del cedimento strutturale del braccio di una gru portuale

Nel presente lavoro vengono discusse le cause del cedimento strutturale del braccio di una gru portuale a portata variabile. L’ispezione delle sezioni di rottura ha mostrato in particolare la presenza di una grossa fessura preesistente al momento del crollo, che si estendeva per circa metà sezione di uno degli elementi tubolari principali che costituiscono il traliccio del braccio. Al fine di stabilire le modalità del crollo, nel lavoro vengono presentati un modello per l’analisi della propagazione della fessura, che fa uso del metodo delle weight functions ed un modello per l’analisi di collasso della sezione. Le analisi condotte hanno permesso di concludere che il crollo si è verificato per collasso plastico della sezione ed hanno messo in evidenza come la fessura in esame, per una parte considerevole della vita, sia propagata in condizioni stabili con velocità di avanzamento circa costante

Concordance with the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) 2010 recommendations on eligibility criteria for the first biologic agent

Aims: The aim of this study is to assess concordance with the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) 2010 recommendations on the use of biologic therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS 28), a composite numerical score is included in these recommendations to assess disease activity and response to treatment. Methods: Clinical notes of fifty patients who were commenced on biologic treatment between March 2010 and June 2011 were reviewed for documentation of DAS 28 scores at baseline, after approximately 6 months of commencement of treatment and at approximately 6 monthly intervals during treatment. Results: Twenty two patients were eligible for this audit. Of these patients only half had a DAS 28 score performed prior to starting treatment, four patients had the score performed within 3-9 months of commencement of therapy and only 2 patients had continuous scores performed at six monthly intervals during treatment. Conclusions: This audit shows that we are not adhering to the BSR recommendations. In order to improve our adherence we plan to train all staff in contact with patients on biologic treatment to perform DAS 28 scores and have a DAS 28 calculator readily available at out patients. A proforma is being developed for patients on biologic therapy to ensure that DAS 28 scores are performed at baseline and during treatment.peer-reviewe

Language and nationality in an island colony : Malta

Under the influence of thinkers such as Vico, Herder, and Fichte, we have come to accept and assume that language and culture are what make a people a nation. In his critique of nationalism, however, Kedourie described it as "a doctrine invented in Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century." Whereas in recent times nationalism has caused or served the perpetration of excesses, in the preceding century nationalist movements were in many ways inevitable, even heroic expressions of resistance to assimilation and foreign domination, attempts to reinforce cultural awareness and assert political rights. However, it is clear that no instant or static correlation exists between native languages and national cultures, or between ethnic groups and nation states. While it seems natural that a people sharing common experiences and using the same medium of communication should constitute a nation, the relationship of nationality to nationhood may be complicated by a multiplicity of factors - sectarian, social, ideological. More fundamentally, a sense of common nationality may be hindered by different religions or ethnic origins of the inhabitants of a defined .area, resulting for example in conflicting language loyalties, as in Canada. The situation appears even more perplexing when linguistic differences do not stem from perceptibly diverse racial origins, yet serve to polarize opinion in a society having common attributes. Nineteenth-century Maltese society is probably a unique example of the case in which bilingualism became a battleground in the successful quest for a national identity. Maltese nationalism rotated in time on this triple paradox: The championing; of Italian as a non-Maltese national language; the active promotion of the Maltese vernacular by the British Imperial power as a means of expunging Italian; and the gradual emergence of Maltese as a national tongue and as the prime expression of anti-British sentiments. Of Britain's Mediterranean colonies it is Malta that is socially and politically the most interesting. Neither too small, like Gibraltar, to aspire to nationhood, nor, like Cyprus, torn by ethnic-religious strife, the Island was just sufficiently sized, the native population adequately homogeneous, for an intricate language-nationality situation to develop during the period of British rule (1800-1964). “There is surely no other community in the British Commonwealth,” wrote an observer in 1937, “whose domestic disputes are entangled so inextricably with the shattering controversies which divide principalities and powers”. Unlike Tangier, Gibraltar, or the Cape, Malta was not part of a mainland, and her language-nationality conflicts must be seen in the light of her insularity and geographical location - an archipelago only 122 square miles in area, 60 miIes to the south of Sicily, and three times as distant from the North African coast.peer-reviewe

T.S. Eliot and the music of poetry

This thesis is a study of T.S. Eliot's poetry in the light of the different ways in which it can be considered 'musical'. Two concerns central to the thesis are: (1) Eliot's enduring interest in the musical quality of poetry; (2) the critical usefulness and viability of drawing analogies between his poetry and music. The thesis considers three important related topics: (1) Eliot's preoccupation with language, its inevitability and its inadequacy; (2) the figure of the seeker in his poetry; (3) his interest in mysticism. The thesis begins by exploring affinities between music and literature in the context of Wagner’s ideal of the 'Gesamtkunstwerk' and its influence on French Symbolist writers. It goes on to trace the development of T.S. Eliot's poetic style as influenced by the French Symbolist poets, by Dante and the mediaeval mystics, and by the music of Wagner, Stravinsky and other composers. Throughout, Eliot's poetry presents variations on the theme of detachment and involvement in relation to the figure of the seeker: consciousness is most engaged and challenged when it journeys. In the early poetry, music serves to emphasize failed relationships: the closer the physical proximity between protagonists, the greater the psychological distance. From The Waste Land on, Eliot makes use of myth and leitmotif to portray consciousness in the role of seeker urged on by the need for meaning. After his conversion to Anglo-Catholicism in 1927, Eliot's characters embark on a journey inward, where music, now "unheard", no longer signifies neurosis and despair, but becomes the only language for the ineffable

Malta's quest for independence : reflections on the course of Maltese history

Includes author's preface.Independence is not made in one day; but there is a day when it is obtained. Like most ex-colonies, Malta since 1965 had celebrated 21 September as her National Day. A measure of consensus had been reached in Parliament at the time that Dr. Giorgio Borg Olivier headed Malta's (Nationalist) Government. A quarter of a century later, Malta's statehood is itself beginning to have a history. In this - especially after 1971 - the very acquisition of independence has been turned into an acrimonious partisan issue between the main contending political parties, although the argument that questions how far Malta became independent in 1964 remains fundamentally a political rather than a constitutional one. 'Independence', 'freedom' and indeed 'national' days have assumed an unenviable (and unique) history of their own. Independence Day was eliminated as a national day and even as a public holiday by the Mintoff - led Malta Labour Party (MLP) following its assumption of office in 1971. After using the pre-independence national day of 8 September (1565/1945) temporarily as a stop-gap, national day became 13 December (1974) when Malta was declared a republic - no longer a constitutional monarchy as it had been since independence. But this day was itself replaced by another, that of 31 March (1979) marking the expiry of a new military agreement with the former colonial power, Britain, concluded in 1972. When in May 1987 the Partit Nazzjonaiista (PN) were returned after sixteen years in opposition, the government would have wished to rehabilitate Independence Day; equally it sought "reconciliation' in an island that had become more internally polarized than ever. In view of the impossibility of reaching consensus about restoring Independence Day to its former status, in March 1989 it was agreed to do without a National Day as such and instead to have no less than five (5) days designated as "national" feasts, these to include 21 September 1964, 13 December 1974 and 31 March 1979. The first of these to be commemorated under this new agreement, 31 March, ended in a terrible fracas during which, inter alia, the Commander of the Maltese Armed Forces was assaulted on the dias by well-known MLP supporters as he was about to take the salute. Thus the meaning attributed to words - 'freedom' itself, for one - begs many a definition. Nationalistic rhetoric abounds in what appears to have become a machismo bout: 'whatever you can do I can do better'.peer-reviewe