This Far But No Further
December 2019
Maria Caruana was one of the few women who studied at the University of Malta during the early 20th century, and – even more unusually - participated in L-Għaqda tal-Malti – Università’s publication, Leħen il-Malti. One of her writings – Qawmien għal-Ħajja – describes the spiritual awakening or spiritual appreciation of a male protagonist. Why would Caruana, obviously intelligent and arguably confident, write about a male character, in particular when describing such a personal and subjective experience?
This Far, but No Further takes her text and changes the male protagonist into a female figure; it is now her enlightenment, rather than his. But, as we all know, the road to gender equality is not that simple, and a deep, male voice now reads the text.
Changes in society in the past few centuries have meant that women – in theory - are now free to study and pursue the career of their choice. The University of Malta has more female students than male – a commendable statistic – however does this give a false impression of gender balance within society?
Take literature and film for example, where male protagonists are preferred by writers and audiences alike - males are central characters in far more books and films than women.
This Far, but No Further invites you to sit among the flowers and listen to a man telling a woman’s story.
This Far, but No Further takes her text and changes the male protagonist into a female figure; it is now her enlightenment, rather than his. But, as we all know, the road to gender equality is not that simple, and a deep, male voice now reads the text.
Changes in society in the past few centuries have meant that women – in theory - are now free to study and pursue the career of their choice. The University of Malta has more female students than male – a commendable statistic – however does this give a false impression of gender balance within society?
Take literature and film for example, where male protagonists are preferred by writers and audiences alike - males are central characters in far more books and films than women.
This Far, but No Further invites you to sit among the flowers and listen to a man telling a woman’s story.
This Far, but No Further was shown this November, as part of Hors Concours, the exhibition commissioned by the University of Malta, and curated by Prof Raphael Vella, acknowledging the role of women at the University of Malta, since the first female students in 1919. Other exhibiting artists were Kristina Borg, Charlie Cauchi and Amber Fenech