Nhar it-Tlieta, 20 ta’ Novembru 2018, fis-6.00pm, Marlene Mifsud Chircop se tagħmel taħdita fis-sensiela dwar It-Tradizzjoni Orali tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti tal-Università ta’ Malta​, dwar “It-12-il Ħrafa tas-Seħer Maltin ta’ Stumme skont Propp u l-Funzjonijiet tal-Ħrafa.” Din it-taħdita hija miftuħa għal kulħadd u se ssir fil-Librerija tal-Fakultà tal-Arti il-bini tal-Università ta’ Malta f’Tal-Qroqq.

Hans Stumme (1864-1936) ġabar 37 ħrafa (1903), li 12 minnhom huma ħrejjef tas-seħer. Sadattant, Patri Manwel Magri SJ (1851-1907) u Bertha Ilg (1881-1965) ukoll kienu qed jiġbru l-ħrejjef, fosthom tas-seħer. F’din it-taħdita Marlene Mifsud Chircop sa tħares lejn il-ħrafa fil-letteratura klassika; se tqis ukoll il-fehmiet tal-Amerikan Stith Thompson (1885-1976), u l-influwenza tar-Russu Vladimir Propp (1895-1970), li kompla wara Olrik. Għal Propp, il-funzjonijiet tal-ħrafa jikkostitwixxu l-komponenti bażiċi tal-istruttura taħt kwalunkwe ħrafa.

Mit-12-il ħrafa tas-seħer li ġabar Stumme, ir-riċerkatriċi sa tagħti eżempji tal-31 funzjoni li jsemmi Propp. Imbagħad se tara x’jgħid l-Amerikan Alan Dundes (1934-2005) fuq il-liġijiet epiċi tan-narrattiva folkloristika tad-Daniż Axel Olrik (1864-1917), u l-kunċett super-organiku tal-kultura.

Marlene Mifsud Chircop, għalliema u riċerkatriċi indipendenti, ħadmet mal-folklorista Ġużè Cassar Pullicino u żewġha, il-folklorista antropoloġiku Ġorġ Mifsud Chircop. Wara l-ewwel teżi tagħha fuq “Il-Folklor fir- Rumanz Storiku/Romantiku Malti” (1972) għall-Baċellerat u t-tieni teżi fuq “A Motif-Index of the Maltese Folktale” għall-M.A., kompliet bir-riċerka fin-narrattiva popolari, fl-irrakkuntar u fl-għana Malti, illum il-ġurnata b’mod speċjali l-element kulturali u soċjali fl-għana tal-fatt.

Flimkien ma’ żewġha, ipproduċiet u ppreżentat 26 dokumentarju kulturali ta’ 45 minuta għat-televixin: Ix-xogħol Waħdu Jurik u Fuq Għajnejk (1996, 2001, Dir. Alvin Scicluna) u għar-radju Maltese Folklore in the Modern World (2000) u A Folk Festival in Malta (2003). Interpretat u ttraduċiet kemm-il darba l-għana u l-irrakkuntar waqt festivals Malta u barra.

Ħadet sehem f’konferenzi Malta u barra, fejn ippreżentat fost l-oħrajn “Mnarja – a Midsummer’s Festival in Contemporary Malta” (Gothenburg 2006), “Maltese Folk Narrative” (Isle of Bute 2011), “Good Friday Processions in Contemporary Malta” (Innsbruck 2014), “The First Ten Years of the Maltese Folk singing Festival” (Malta 2014), The Development of Maltese Ballads (Malta 2014). Barra diversi sessjonijiet tal-għana u tal-irrakkuntar, kemm f’Malta kif ukoll barra, organizzat l-attività kulturali “Grimani Min Qatlu?” għal Science in the City (Malta 2014).

Fl-2016 Marlene Mifsud Chircop ħarġet il-ktieb Min Qatel il-Patri? (Klabb Kotba Maltin) mar-Rev. Dr Mark Montebello.

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It-12-il Ħrafa tas-Seħer Maltin ta’ Stumme skont Propp u l-Funzjonijiet tal-Ħrafa

On Tuesday, 20th November at 6pm, Marlene Mifsud Chircop is giving a public talk in Maltese on It-12-il Ħrafa tas-Seħer Maltin ta’ Stumme skont Propp u l-Funzjonijiet tal-Ħrafa in the Faculty of Arts Library of the University of Malta in Tal-Qroqq.

Hans Stumme (1864-1936) collected 37 Maltese folktales, 12 of which deal with magic. Meanwhile, Patri Manwel Magri SJ (1851-1907) and Bertha Ilg (1881-1965) were also collecting Maltese folktales, among which ones dealing with magic. In this presentation Mifsud Chircop will discuss folktales in classical literature, according to American Stith Thompson (1885-1976), the influence of Russian Vladimir Propp (1895-1970), who followed in Danish Axel Olrik’s footsteps, and others who studied folk narrative. For Propp, the functions of the folktale constitute the basic components of the structure of any folktale.

From the 12 magic folktales Stumme collected, the researcher will be giving examples of 31 functions Propp mentions. Then Mifsud Chircop will discuss what American Alan Dundes (1934-2005) says about Olrik’s epic laws of folkloristic narrative, about 15 and the super-organic concept of culture which explains why folklorists do not tolerate the psychological study of the folktale.

This talk is part of the Oral Tradition series, which is now in the third year, and is hosted by the Department of Maltese at the University of Malta. This event is open to everyone and entrance is free. This project is supported by the Research Grants Programme of the University of Malta and Klabb Kotba Maltin.