One of the key metaphors in the construction of the Maltese national imaginary
through literature was that of the nation-mother who served as a conservative reference
point to the male writers and the national family. She is essentially a construct of the
patriarchal society that shaped most pre-Independence Maltese prose and poetry. The
traditional family of that literature is a closed unit with well-defined roles assigned to the
members of the in-groups, whether or not they like it. and with a clear theocentric centre.
Like the static mother who is subservient to the strict father and is expected to execute his
decisions, Malta is plitically subservient to the colonial master and morally subservient
to the patriarchal Catholic Church.peer-reviewe
