Malta is a small country that consists of a small set of islands in the central Mediterranean about fifty miles south of the Italian island of Sicily. It’s a picturesque place, a destination for tourists, a multilingual, multi-faceted country that tries to draw the best from the many who ruled it during its very long past. Over the centuries, little Malta has found itself under the thumb of many powerful entities: the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Byzantines, Arabs, the Germans, Barbary corsairs (pirates), who in 1551 enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo and sent them all to the Barbary coast, the French (specifically Napoleon, who visited for just six days, but in his time there abolished feudalism and freed Malta’s slaves) and, from 1814 until its independence in 1964, the British Empire. Despite its multiple colonizers, Malta has consistently maintained its own distinct forms of music and dance. In this video, try to enjoy traditional Maltese makjetta as much as the guy is who is singing it.
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There is nothing Small about the Small States
Europe is already a continent packed with relatively tiny nations, each with its own couple thousands of years of history that comes with its own particular linguistic, cultural and musical traditions, yet it still boasts seven even smaller “mircostates,” which bring their own narratives and national pride. In class this week we give a nod to seven of them — Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. These seven states have so much to offer, and we’d be silly not to take it. Let’s go!
