Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1472871
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JULY 2022 9 INTERVIEW is always problematic' With polyphony comes the idea of voices, more than one, like a chorus of different voic- es singing in harmony. In many polyphonic novels we find sto- ries that are allowed to be told by voices who were very often silenced because they might have sounded out of tune, in discord with the dominant het- eronormative (usually white, but definitely always patriar- chal) culture. Polyphonic narratives are for me an interesting way of sub- verting the idea of the omnisci- ent narrator, the singular point of view of a story which usu- ally has so many other (more colourful) angles to it. Marta Marta proposes the idea of lis- tening before speaking, where speaking results in silencing the other and judging them before they can explain themselves: the 'other' being those whose reality is so much different than one's own. Polyphony also presents itself as an alternative to that which exists only in a dual relation- ship, a binary reality which strengthens one aspect against its seemingly direct and weak- er opposite, whereby any other possibility is not even deemed worth considering. Plurality, and hence diversi- ty, creates a more level playing field. It is a celebration of all possible sounds and colours while also promoting the cre- ation of new ones. It thrives in solidarity, not in competition or rivalry. And yes, it is the best weapon against the patriar- chy which in Malta has always manifested itself in the form of the domineering single voice of the Catholic (male) priest, the lawyer or head of state (almost always male), and the father as head of the nuclear family. At a certain level, you also seem to taking the fight against binarism beyond its immediate misogynistic connotations. For instance, you once said that "it is bizarre to treat LGBTIQ rights as separate issues from wom- en's rights." Are you suggest- ing that our dualistic views on sexuality are not just 'wrong', because they result in discrim- ination and injustice; but that they're just, well… WRONG? (As in: anatomically/physiolog- ically incorrect)? It is a fact that when a child is born, depending on its visible anatomical characteristics, it is immediately assigned a gender (we used to refer to this as sex, before the distinction between the two became more widely acknowledged). This means that the child, ir- respective of how it feels about all this, is given a very specific role to play throughout their life. Amongst many other things, this also comes with a number of advantages, if it's assigned 'male'; and disadvantages, if it's assigned 'female'. These roles are social constructs which can make life fairly simple for a person who fits easily into the role assigned to them; but a nightmare if they don't. The fact that they are constructs is conveniently forgotten by those who feel threatened by who- ever behaves differently than what is expected of them. These constructs, unfortunately, are largely to blame for all the suf- fering that the oppressed have to endure, and have had to en- dure throughout the centuries. In the words of one of the char- acters in 'Marta Marta': when one puts on the glasses of femi- nism, one becomes more aware of, and attuned to, other forms of oppression by the strong over the weak. And it is very often the case that the oppressor is one and the same - the patriar- chal and capitalistic mentality that stands for and promotes heteronormativity, whereby the binary of male and female (and where male is strong and active; while female is weak and pas- sive, to name but a few binary traits attributed to these two) is the only possible and accept- able idea of normality. In an earlier interview, you said that: 'Historically and tradition- ally, a woman was expected to become either a Marta – the woman who marries and stays home to take care of her hus- band's house and children – or a Mary, the woman who choos- es not to marry but to take holy orders and dedicate her life to spiritual contemplation." But your novel focuses on a third choice: the beguines, who 'who chose to neither marry nor become nuns, but rather to buy property and live with- in a walled and safe space [beguinage] inside the city'. Doesn't that imply, however, that the sort of freedom/equali- ty you are advocating, can only truly be achieved by 'walling oneself in' from the rest of so- ciety? The 'wall' becomes a symbolic architectural structure in Marta Marta; as it is not a wall which isolates or enslaves, but rather liberates those who live within it. It is a wall which offers pro- tection, a safe place from the oppressors, a space in which one can be free to design for oneself one's idea of being: the freedom to be oneself or to (re) create oneself. The walled community of the medieval beguinage had a door, and the beguines were the ones in charge of the key. They de- cided who was allowed to enter the beguinage and at what time these outsiders (usually men) had to leave. The beguines themselves could go in and out of the beguinage whenever they needed to. Also, the name Marta, which in the novel comes to represent the house in which all the main characters live, comes from Ar- amaic and it means the owner and mistress of the house. This is what the house in the nov- el stands for: an architectural space which implies safety and empowers its inhabitants to live together in solidarity, irrespec- tive of their differences, and to construct for themselves their idea of freedom. It is the phys- ical space that allows for an au- tonomous and self-governing type of communal living based on the principles of solidarity and respect for one another. You also clearly attach a lot of importance to language: talk- ing, among other things, about the 'need to begin this conver- sation in our mother tongue'. Do you find it problematic, though, that Maltese is in itself such a highly 'gendered' language? (In the sense that we use 'male/ female' labels not just for every noun/adjective; but also when conjugating verbs)? And if so: do you think that the same lin- guistic gender-structure may also have contributed to Mal- ta's cultural male-dominance? I don't consider Maltese to be problematic because it happens to be gendered, in the sense that I don't necessarily feel threat- ened by it; nor do I believe it to be the reason for the preva- lence of the patriarchal ideol- ogy in the Maltese community (although I might be wrong, I might not have thought enough about this matter). Rather, my concern is that Maltese people who are try- ing to find ways of describ- ing themselves, or referring to themselves in a non-gendered way, end up simply using terms in English which don't work as easily when translated into Mal- tese: for example, the use of the pronoun "they", as may be pre- ferred by a non-binary person. In English it is often only the pronoun that changes, where- as in Maltese all the verbs, ad- jectives and other related pro- nouns would have to change as well. So my worry is about the fact that these issues are not gener- ating a much-needed creative process that could lead to local solutions to queering the Mal- tese language. I am hoping that this debate is taken up by the younger generation of Maltese writers: especially queer writ- ers.