'Il-Logħba tal-Imħabba'
Author: Alfred Massa
Publisher: Horizons / Outlook Coop 2026
Pages: 288pages
On the way from Ta' Pinu to Dwejra, I notice the Basilica of Għarb. Two places I visited with my parents and relatives on numerous occasions as a child. We didn't eat out at restaurants back then; instead, we had a collapsible table with an abundance of food and beverages on it. Upon completing the tidying, the "adults" would drape a tablecloth over the table and play a game of rummy, a habit they were reluctant to break. They used to play for one shilling, and each extra card cost a penny. But their favourite part was teasing one another after each game. My sisters and cousins were never interested in this game, so we would go play football in the street. I used to attend because my parents would take me there when I was young. My sisters mostly stayed at home to complete their GCEs.
However, today, now that I'm older and have a more perceptive eye, I see that on the right-hand belfry of the Basilica, underneath a clock painting, there is a lovely and insightful passage from the Book of Sirach 4:20. "My son, watch for the right time." This expression serves as a reminder of how crucial it is to cherish each moment.
People throughout the Renaissance believed that time was brutal and could ruin everything good in the world. Shakespeare's sonnets often underline how "swift-footed" time ruthlessly devours youth and beauty until the face wrinkles and becomes sad (Sonnet 19). In contrast, Sonnet 73 exemplifies Shakespeare's view of time as powerful.
Time plays a significant part in Alfred Massa's work because, much like the sea, it erodes the extremely firm stone of habits in favour of modern human behaviour. However, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that the central theme of this work focuses on how unscrupulous individuals manipulate and control love. They exploit this powerful emotion for their own purposes, specifically targeting a vulnerable young man who has endured a difficult upbringing. The characters in this work are those who, in one way or another, exert control over Edgar, who lacks initiative, is timid, and is an introvert. However, he is young and is still finding the meaning of life.
The author characterises Edgar as "reserved, sensitive, sometimes cowardly, altruistic, and capable of love, though egoism eventually possesses him too". This feeling of control and the fragility of love as an instrument that governs those we desire may be found in the works of Shakespeare; for example, in Much ado about nothing (1598) and Othello (1603), Jane Austen' s Pride and Prejudice (1796), Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1845) and Jane Eyre (1847), and F. Scott Fitzgerald' s The Great Gatsby (1924).
In this work, we encounter Delina and Stella, two "right-winged" nostalgic characters who symbolise and are eager to protect traditional values using all available means. Always ready to criticise others, they particularly target those who do not belong to their perceived "social class" or whom they deem "socially incoherent".
The "influence" of Delina and Stella is used to manipulate and emulate Edgar according to their desires. If they had the power, they would halt time. Thus, throughout this work, we discover that Edgar is under a lot of strain since everyone wants him to be whatever they prefer. It is not surprising that he develops an alcohol addiction as a way to detach himself from his surroundings. As a consequence, Edgar seems to be a lost soul, at the mercy of everybody else. So, this is a story about love that has been used and mistreated rather than about love itself.
This is a depressing tale, and the author's description of the surroundings as "a cloudy grey sky..." or a setting that conveys a lack of joy maintains a sense of tradition and melancholy. "Behind him, a cart full of flowerpots and bunches of little flowers, especially chrysanthemums". Even church bells that used "to ring one after another generated a sense of sadness in the heart of whoever heard them... The day on which we commemorate the Feast of the Dead". Likewise the use of specific terms such as "blackness" and "cypress" continues to reinforce this mood of despair.
As previously stated, the protagonist in this piece is Edgar, a young university student raised by his aunts, who lost his father when he was quite young. It is important to note that all of the characters who attempt to manipulate Edgar depict themselves as flawless, with the exception of the person being controlled. "Because we are not hypocrites, Edgar". The sort of parenting Edgar had to endure did not allow him to grow up normally, so "he used to go hide in some corner or in the yard".
Edgar's companion Victor, a young man raised by his father, Wiġi, after losing his mother at a young age, supports Edgar's transition toward more open views of life. Because of his father's leftist convictions, Victor developed into a "progressive youth". "I'm amazed, Edgar, at how you remained so narrow-minded about some things". Edgar is a sad individual. He is someone who should be pitied for his fate. "Destiny comes first. This is innate to the person and follows him like a shadow, never leaving him by himself".
Tereża, Edgar's mother and "a widow...a beautiful woman", exemplifies egoism. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) claimed that people are innately egoistic and driven by self-preservation. Tereża's decision to choose her "lover" above her son had a negative impact on Edgar's character. Deep down, Tereża, who ultimately was unable to overcome a mother's instinct, missed her son too, especially since she knew that she wasn't there for him when he needed her most.
The sociological concept in relation to alcoholism is a complex one, as one may regard it as a multidisciplinary subject. Although it is not the intention of this writing to delve into the philosophical and sociological issues of alcoholism, it is sufficient to say that the subject has drawn the attention of scholars since the 16th century with the study of Michel de Montaigne, Of Drunkenness. Moving forward in time, Seldon Bacon proposed studying alcoholism from a sociological standpoint in 1943. This investigation examines how societal structures, cultural norms, and environmental factors influence alcoholism and addiction.
Edgar used alcohol to flee and forget his mother's abandonment, similar to how Rużar Briffa used poetry as a form of "escapism". The austerity with which his aunts raised him, along with the challenges of life he faced by encountering scoundrels as he matured, helped him realise that he, too, was made of flesh and blood. Given, that his father was also an alcoholic, his genes did not assist him either. We frequently read about Edgar reaching for the bottle of whisky throughout the narrative. "Mother, isn't a glass of whisky preferable to medication?" Edgar merely needed to go through certain circumstances to get to the edge. Edgar's habit became so severe that the author described the protagonist as having lost all sense of time and reason toward the book's conclusion.
Stigma is another concept which the author focuses on in this work. Erving Goffman, in his 1963 book, Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity defined stigma as a process that reduces a person from "a whole and usual person to a tainted one". On the other hand, Simon Bradford and Marylin Clark, in their work Stigma Narratives: LGBT transitions and identities in Malta have associated stigma with honour and shame. They argued that "like stigma, the attribution of honour and shame is a social process involving individual status claims in combination with wider social affirmations of those claims. A person whose honour is rebuffed by the community is humiliated, often labelled negatively and treated with appropriate disdain. (International Journal of Adolescence and Youth)". In Massa's narrative this type of "social genetic transmission" is evident in Miriam, Edgar's "girlfriend", who has to endure humiliation as gossip has labeled her "a young girl, the daughter of sin". Tereża, in spite of her own wrongdoings, exploits the circumstances to enhance her control over her son.
The author combines the hypocrisy and shrewdness we witness in this work with a Shakespearean notion. In Shakespeare's pastoral comedy As you like it, the sorrowful Jacques begins a monologue with the remark, "All the world's a stage" (Act II, Scene VII, line 139). The speech compares the world to a stage, life to a play, and describes the seven stages of a man's life, also known as the seven ages of man. "Shakespeare compares life to a theatre and sees humans as actors."
The significance of Carnival, in which individuals put on masks to cover their true faces, emphasises the notion that humans are performers in real life. "Life is a carnival. Masks and clowns... Colourful costumes are worn by the same person... wide open mouths, laughing and screaming, and occasionally senseless phrases resound through the air... Carnival. Life is a carnival. Masked people race around us, and because some of them wear masks, we don't recognise them!"
Edgar's sheltered upbringing had left him with a somewhat naive personality, and he rapidly became a target for others with hidden agendas. We first encounter this aspect of Edgar being "used" by others in Miriam, an illegitimate girl. On page 45 she states: "I fear that I shall remain single..."; then in the shrewd Pietro Corallo, a Sicilian rascal of a businessman who specialised in shoes and who, according to him, was betrayed by his friend and wife as "Judas betrayed Jesus".
Edgar repeatedly "cursed the period when he had met [Corallo]". "Here, every mother who has a daughter and knows she is unfit for the convent cannot wait until she finds a young man to marry her off". The same thing happened to his mother Tereża, who was tricked by her "lover" Mark. "Avoid allowing someone to exploit your body for their own amusement."
Corallo and Concetta use Giulia as bait to entice Edgar into marrying Concetta's daughter. This would allow them to live their lives as they wished. "Pietro winked at Concetta, who immediately understood him. They stood up and headed inside. In this way, Edgar and Giulia found themselves alone. Subsequently, on page 285, Corallo says: "I tell you without hesitation that isn't true that Giulia was pregnant; I made that up to get you to marry her."
The type of twisted love used in this work causes Edgar to pity the characters involved. However, every sword has two edges. Edgar may also be exploiting others. On page 252, the author asks: "Did I pretend to love her to while away the time with her body?"
In this book, love is the primary source from which all of the protagonists' personalities emerge. Love is thus the "primary mover" in the plot. However, what emerges from these characters is not just socially relevant but also significant.
In a sense, Miriam and Giulia, succeed in winning Edgar's affection by playing the game of love. But their true desires are never fulfilled; instead, nothing comes of it. In this work, marriage is defined as a "social commodity" that people easily employ to achieve their goals rather than as a "platonic" sacrament or "true love". It appears that the author wants to make the point that love cannot be created in order for it to exist. Edgar's character altered as a result of these life experiences; he is now a self-affirming individual instead of a shy youngster. "I am not a baby anymore".
Alfred Massa's works depict scenes from life. As a result, this work represents the reality of life, and the author has the ability to translate this reality into a serious form of literature that should be evaluated. Massa allows us to reflect on the societal concerns that are most personal to us and those we encounter on a daily basis. The author is nostalgic and values tradition. In this work, Massa, for example, describes not only Maltese traditions but also those beyond Maltese shores. This concept of tradition becomes more important when the author observes adverse social developments emerging like thorns from the tree of contemporary society. Massa's work is pessimistic, but it is also avant-garde since it challenges established norms. However, he does so in order to assess current society. Alfred weaves his plot around proverbs and idioms, as well as the major feasts observed throughout the year. I consider these to be "stations" that the author utilises to enhance the framework of his story and transmit his message more effectively to the reader.