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This article
examines Maltese għana, extemporised song
duels between men characterised by double entendre
and wit. It traces the evolution of għana
from a largely peripheral rural phenomenon which
emphasised youthful bravado and cheekiness, to a
largely 'folkloric' singing practiced by men often
in urban working class contexts. The current
practice and sitting of għana in working
class contexts whilst representing 'folklore'
generates particular tensions. On the one hand due
to għana's competitive nature, and the
singers' desire to excel and become virtuosos, men
must preserve their honour at all costs. On the
other hand social and singing conventions, as well
as the somewhat grudging recognition by the middle
classes, means that singers have to preserve their
unity as otherwise they would give għana a bad name,
and thus lower their
collective esteem by society.
Għana can be seen as a ritual of
inversal, enabling its practitioners
to comment about the
contradictions in the tensions
in Maltese society and its various
identities, especially through strategic code
switching from Maltese to English. Repetitions in
the songs highlight the tensions between
insiders/outsiders, lower/upper class,
illiterate/unschooled, Maltese/foreigner, etc.
Finally the article suggests għana enables
individuals to temporarily transcend their
marginalised social position by becoming virtuosos
and to demonstrate that in spite of the demands of a
modern nation state which emphasises literacy,
social mobility, education, etc., they are more able
than their social betters. Għana is the
rhetoric and weapon of the weak, the weapon of
'indigenous' 'folklore' against the manufactured
'Folklore' of the nation state.
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