Nhar il-Ġimgħa 25 ta’ Ġunju, fis-6.00pm, ir-riċerkatriċi magħrufa tat-tradizzjonijiet orali fl-Mediterran Micheline Galley se tagħmel taħdita bl-Ingliż fuq Zoom u Facebook fuq ir-riċerka li għamlet fuq medda ta’ erbgħin sena dwar it-tradizzjonijiet orali f’Malta u l-Magreb. It-taħdita jisimha “Researching Maltese and Mediterranean Oral Traditions: A French-Maltese Collaboration” u se tkun miftuħa għal kulħadd.

L-udjenza tista’ ssegwi x-xandira diretta fuq Zoom, https://universityofmalta.zoom.us/j/93599049058, jew fuq il-paġna ta’ Facebook tal-proġett tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti fuq “It-Tradizzjoni Orali”. https://www.facebook.com/events/1145370152616355?ref=newsfeed

Madame Galley hija riċerkatriċi anzjana onorarja fis-CNRS, iċ-Ċentru Nazzjonali tar-Riċerka Xjentifika, istituzzjoni prestiġjuża fi Franza. Qattgħet deċennji sħaħ mill-karriera professjonali tagħha tistudja t-tradizzjonijiet orali f’Malta u l-Magreb u ħadmet mill-qrib ma’ riċerkaturi ewlenin bħal Ġużè Cassar Pullicino u Ġużè Aquilina. Bħala etnologa li ħadmet fuq il-kultura Għarbija, Galley hija l-awtriċi u l-editriċi ta’ għadd ta’ pubblikazzjonijiet marbuta mal-epika ta’ HiIali. Studjat ukoll is-Sibilla u l-mod kif il-figura tagħha baqgħet ħajja matul iż-żminijiet u kienet l-ispirazzjoni għal wirt artistiku għani. 

Micheline Galley kitbet għadd ta’ artikli akkademiċi u tliet kotba fuq Malta: ma’ Ġużè Cassar Pullicino kitbet Femmes de Malte dans les chants traditionnels (C.N.R.S., 1981). Imbagħad ippubblikat dak li aktarx huwa l-aktar xogħol magħruf tagħha f’Malta, Maria Calleja’s Gozo. A Life History (Utah University Press, 1994), li rebaħ il-Premju Internazzjonali G. Pitrè – S. Marino 1995 (Premio del Presidente). Imbagħad hemm l-iktar ktejjeb riċenti tagħha, Malte: Un archipel au destin fabuleux (Paris Geuthner, 2019).

Bħala riċerkatriċi internazzjonali ewlenija u segretarja ġenerali tal-Għaqda Internazzjonali tal-Istudju taċ-Ċiviltajiet tal-Mediterran (AIECM), Micheline Galley kienet waħda mill-organizzaturi ta’ żewġ konferenzi dwar il-kuntatti kulturali fil-Mediterran li saru f’Malta fl-1972 u fl-1975. Kienet ukoll l-editriċi tal-atti ta’ dawn il-konferenzi li ħarġu f’Malta fl-1973 u l-1978. Barra minn hekk, ħadmet żewġ films dokumentarji fuq it-tradizzjonijiet popolari f’Malta: wieħed ta’ 45 minuta fuq L’Imnarja. Fête des Lumières à Malte (C.N.R.S.), u l-ieħor ta’ 15-il minuta, Chants sacrés et jeux poétiques, fuq l-innijiet sagri u l-poeżija popolari.

Din it-taħdita ta’ Micheline Galley se ssir bi sħab bejn id-Dipartiment tal-Malti tal-Università ta’ Malta, l-Ambaxxata ta’ Malta f’Pariġi, u l-Ambaxxata ta’ Franza f’Malta. Hija parti mis-sensiela ta’ taħditiet fuq It-Tradizzjoni Orali li qed imexxi d-Dipartiment tal-Malti u parti mill-festival tas-sajf “Respire!” li qed torganizza l-Ambaxxata Franċiża f’Malta biex tiċċelebra r-relazzjonijiet bejn Franza u Malta.

Il-Prof. Adrian Grima se jintroduċi lill-kelliema u jmexxi d-diskussjoni wara t-taħdita. Ħajr lill-Ambaxxatriċi Franċiża f’Malta, l-Eċċellenza Tagħha Brigitte Curmi u lill-Eċċellenza Tiegħu s-Sur Carmelo Inguanez, Ambaxxatur ta’ Malta fi Franza.

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On Friday 25th June 2021 at 6.00pm, Micheline Galley, a leading French ethnologist, will be giving a public online talk in English on “Researching Maltese and Mediterranean Oral Traditions: A French-Maltese Collaboration”. This event is open to the general public and will be broadcast live on Zoom at https://universityofmalta.zoom.us/j/93599049058 and on the Facebook page of the Maltese oral traditions project, “It-Tradizzjoni Orali”. https://www.facebook.com/events/1145370152616355?ref=newsfeed

Madame Galley is an honorary senior researcher at the prestigious French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She devoted decades of her professional life to the study of Maltese and Maghrebi oral traditions and worked closely with leading Maltese researchers like Joseph Cassar Pullicino and Prof. Joseph Aquilina. As an ethnologist working on Arab culture, she was the author and editor of several publications dealing with the HiIali epic. She also worked on the Sibyl, her permanence through the ages and the artistic heritage she inspired. 

Micheline Galley authored numerous academic articles and three books on Malta: Femmes de Malte dans les chants traditionnels, with Joseph Cassar Pullicino (C.N.R.S., 1981); Maria Calleja’s Gozo. A Life History (Utah University Press, 1994), that was awarded the Prix international G. Pitrè – S. Marino 1995 (Premio del Presidente); and more recently a booklet entitled, Malte: Un archipel au destin fabuleux (Paris Geuthner, 2019).

As a leading researcher and secretary general of the Association Internationale d’Étude des Civilisations Méditerranéennes (AIECM), Micheline Galley co-organized two international conferences on cultural contacts in the Mediterranean held in Malta in 1972 and 1975. She was also the editor of the proceedings that were printed in Malta in 1973 and 1978. She produced two documentary films which dealt specifically with popular traditions in Malta: a 45 minute film on L’Imnarja. Fête des Lumières à Malte (C.N.R.S.) and a 15 minute film, Chants sacrés et jeux poétiques, on sacred chants and popular poetry.

Micheline Galley’s talk is part of a series of lectures hosted by the Department of Maltese in its Maltese oral traditions project which is now in its fifth year. It is also part of the Franco-Maltese summer festival “Respire!” organized by the Embassy of France to celebrate French-Maltese relations.

This talk will be introduced by Prof. Adrian Grima and is being organized jointly by the Department of Maltese at the University of Malta, the Embassy of France in Malta, and the Embassy of Malta in France.