Is there such a thing as a Mediterranean lifestyle? The celebrated British chef Jamie Oliver had this to say about Malta: “In just a few days we sampled meals in 16th century hunting lodges and lively restaurants; ate street food and artisan breads; picked at bowls of garlicky snails; drank proper tea and slurped local wines; ate our bodyweight in pastizzi – and loved every mouthful. And, everywhere we went on Malta and Gozo, there was a holy statue bestowing blessings on us, and these sainted islands.”
What could be more Mediterranean than such a description? Good food, an easy-going life and saints looking over your shoulder. And yet, what do we find when we delve beneath the surface of first impressions? In the 16th century, the Spanish soldier Antonio Vázquez defined the Netherlands as a land where produce had ‘neither juice nor taste’. The sun just did not shine in the same manner as back home in Spain.
Fast-forward to the present and ponder this: Italy – a land hugged by the Mediterranean sun – needs to import nearly 50,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes from the Netherlands in order to sustain its tomato-related industries (and image). Such developments blur the traditionally expected lines of history, geography and culture. How can one make sense of them?
The Mediterranean was and continues to be at the heart of a variety of crossways, including those of the imagination. To engage critically with the Mediterranean, one needs to acknowledge that ‘Mediterranean’ is much more than just an adjective, such as the fabled or maligned ‘Mediterranean lifestyle’. The Mediterranean needs to be considered on its own terms, as a focal point of action, but always in relation to the wider world.
The Mediterranean is a set of lands, a collection of bodies of water and a checkerboard of people that have engaged and clashed in equal measure. Acknowledging some of these complexities – particularly in the light of the Arab Spring in north Africa and the issue of migration across the Mediterranean – former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta recently argued that without recovery and stability in the Mediterranean it will be very difficult for Europe to recover and have stability.
Acknowledging the importance of the Mediterranean throughout time, the University’s Faculty of Arts is launching a new taught MA in Mediterranean Studies in October. Through a range of varied study units led by leading experts in their fields, students will be able to recognise and relate the diversity and unity that characterise the Mediterranean, in order to go beyond the standard interpretations of Mediterranean sameness.
They will also become alert to the many dimensions of the Mediterranean and the need to take this complexity on board when devising national and regional strategies. Are you ready to dive in?
emanuel.buttigieg@um.edu.mt
For the latest details on this programme check the University’s course finder www.um.edu.mt/courses. In ‘Choose area of study’ select ‘Mediterranean Studies’.
https://www.facebook.com/uom.mamedstudies
Dr Buttigieg is co-ordinator for the MA in Mediterranean Studies.