Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/540322
14 SOMETIMES, the stars do align in your favour. And the lucky sod in this case is myself. Because just shy of a week after I booked once- controversial Maltese novelist Alex Vella Gera for an interview, a land- mark legal amendment rendered him a topical 'subject' once again. Allow me to explain. Back in 2009, Vella Gera writes a sexually explicit story – 'Li Tkisser Sewwi' ('Fix What You Break') – and hands it over for publication to student newspaper Realtà, at the time edited by Mark Camill- eri and distributed at University and Junior College. A series of un- fortunate events – involving the campus clergy and the University rector – nearly lands the duo in jail on charges of obscenity. A public outcry ensues, and in February of 2012, both Camilleri and Vella Gera are acquitted of any wrong- doing. As far as Vella Gera and Camilleri were concerned, the final acquit- tal marked the end of a long and stressful journey towards freedom. But in the wider scheme of things, that particular journey was only translated into national impor- tance just this week. Legal amend- ments to the same law that Vella Gera and Camilleri fell foul of were officially announced by Justice and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, decriminalizing both pornography and blasphemy, and ensuring that anything that isn't pornography is given leeway to be considered as an artistic work. So how does Vella Gera feel about all this? "Well, I can't say I'm in a cel- ebratory mood, exactly… partly because I always knew it would eventually happen. I always felt as though I was on the right side of history on this point, so it's not really a huge personal victory for me. But yes, it does mark an im- portant step for the country as a whole. More than the censorship aspect as such, it's the removal of the blasphemy law that I see as be- ing significant. There's a law that's truly antiquated, and recalls a time when the Church would even in- terfere directly in local politics…" But though the Li Tkisser Sewwi case was often viewed in terms of Malta's culturally retrograde na- ture – in the political and media theatre of which Vella Gera and Camilleri played liberal martyrs – Vella Gera's new novel appears to be directly pitched to counteract that version of events. Ominously (or mischievously) titled Trojan, and out later this month, Vella Gera's new book con- cerns the life and times of Gianni Muscat, an aging and religiously devout one-hit-wonder novelist straining under the weight of mod- ern life. Having published a surreal work of fiction back in the '60s, Muscat was lauded as one of the bright young things of Maltese literature, before a fateful trip to Prague with his friend – the louche fellow writer Philip Caruana – led to an uncom- promising embrace of his Catholic faith. Roving across a number of different characters – but chiefly focusing on Gianni's perspective – the close third-person narration makes us privy to Gianni's internal monologue. Those of you of an even mildly liberal inclination might find it hard-going. Gays, immigrants, pre-marital sex… it's all unaccept- able to Gianni, each an instance of yet another reminder that we live in a fallen world, one that is per- haps irretrievably so. But reading through the slim novel, and against my own de- fault ideological settings, I found myself sympathizing with the old curmudgeon. Not so much on his individual grievances, but rather his sheer bloody-minded determi- nation to stick to his principles no matter what. "I've always been fascinated with religious conservatives, whom I don't think you can even call 'conservative' in this day and age. They're almost rebels," Vella Gera observes. "Someone who's not in touch with Malta might assume that someone like Gianni repre- sents the establishment – it's a Catholic country, and so on – but do they, really?" Noting my intuitive admiration of Gianni's stance, Vella Gera takes Malta's sudden spike in LGBTIQ rights as an example of how the tables have been turned, and the dangers of just drifting along with the current. "The developments themselves are without a doubt, important and exciting. But when I see a horde of people waving rainbow flags, I just feel disgusted. It's just jumping on bandwagons. I have no doubt that a majority of these people would have been applauding gays being sent to prison, 30 years ago. It's just a matter of the luck of the draw: you're either born at a time when the herd mentality is on the right side of history, or you're not. I'm exaggerating a bit here of course, but think about those people who came of age in 1930s Germany… "My concern is not whether you're gay or straight," Vella Gera hastens to add. "It's whether you have a social conscience. That's the only thing that interests me. The fact is that you'll find plenty of gay people who are disgusting capitalists… which is probably why [Prime Minister] Joseph Muscat found no problem in ringing in all these changes – he just calculated that it wouldn't cost him anything, and that it was perfectly in line with this pervasive laissez-faire at- titude towards politics in general, where everything goes as long as it generates money." It is these disappointing ideo- Interview By Teodor Reljic maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 JULY 2015 Flirting with conservative PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD