Maltese folk music and Etnika's research

In his latest reply (The Sunday Times, November, 10) to my objective comments, Steve Borg has not provided us with a single scientific comment on my queries about information he gave to journalists and consequently the general public who may not be au courant with Maltese folk music.

Il-Mument readers and I had to wait for a whole year to read that Borg admits mine was a "correct observation that last year's (Etnika's) programme was only printed in English.'' However, he again provides us with no proof to support his fantasies on Maltese folk music, concluding he "shall not write again on this subject, since Etnika's achievements speak louder than words'' (The Sunday Times, November 10).

Bent as he is by a mythologised aspect of Maltese culture, I have criticised him, not the musical performance of the other members of Etnika. He is again identifying his performance in public relations with Etnika's achievements. One thus concludes that his latest contribution is the epitome of a whole sequence of contradictions, and this does not do justice to the intelligence of the general reader since Borg has stepped beyond all boundaries of journalistic ethics.

Although I had repeated that I was away during Etnika's performances last August, he again pointlessly says that these performances have "also escaped'' my "attention''.

Borg hints at no oral or written reference to support his blatant assertions regarding:

1. "the remaining vestiges of our musical tradition in its raw state'' in Maltese folk singing in high register (l-ghana la Bormliza);

2. his irresponsibility in various articles in the press in Maltese and in English ignoring credit to Cassar-Pullicino's discovery and recording of Il-Hahaj's motifs without which Andrew Alamango's and the late Bernard Scerri's original composition would never have been - Borg is ready to make a public apology if someone makes him aware of a "street, plaque or monument'' dedicated to Il-Hahaj (The Sunday Times, October 6) but he has as yet made no apology to the various readers of Maltese newspapers in English and Maltese where Cassar-Pullicino's name was capriciously left out re Il-Hahaj;

3. "If we have good prejjem, Zeppi Spagnol is certainly one of them'' - this runs contrary to what Spagnol himself clearly told me on October 7 that he never plays lead guitarist. In Maltese prejjem refers to the lead guitarists' musical motifs and not, as Borg mistakenly does, to the performers themselves. Note the plural of prim kitarrista is prim kitarristi, not prejjem;

4. his definition of Etnika's performances as partly "reviving traditional melodies in their pure form'' (my emphasis).

Contradictions

1. Borg describes in detail his fieldwork in Siggiewi to discover Anglu Zammit Il-Hahaj. He does not, however, explain to us what convinced him during his ethnographic research in the Maltese Islands and not abroad (through book references, viz. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments and Collins English Dictionary) that all Maltese folk artists playing "rabbaba'' and all reliable Maltese and foreign scholars (musicologists, folklorists, lexicographers, etc.) are on a mistaken track and he is the reliable, logical source.

Current diachronic and synchronic research proves the contrary (see, Anna Borg-Cardona, "Ir-Rabbaba f'Ghawdex Illum,'' L-Imnara, n. 20, 1996, pp. 65-69, id., "Maltese Friction Drum,'' The Sunday Times, October 13, and Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, vol. 28, 2002, 174-210; Guido Lanfranco, "Dwar iz-Zafzafa f'Hal Ghaxaq,'' L-Imnara, op. cit., pp. 70-71; Gorg Mifsud-Chircop, "Maltese Folk Music and Etnika's Research,'' The Sunday Times, November 10).

To add insult to injury, he first accuses me that I am "incorrect'' (The Sunday Times, October 6) in using the term rabbaba' (which, by the way, was documented and used by Anita Ragonesi, author of Maltese Folksong 'Ghana': A Bibliography and Resource Material, Malta, 1999, and not myself as her editor) and later, when I pointed out he was being "prescriptive in discarding local performers' terms as much as the diachronic semantic development of our language,'' (The Sunday Times, October 20), he changes his mind and writes "we all agree that the zafzafa, the friction drum, 'is known by different terms'... not that I do not accept the diachronic semantic development of our language" (The Sunday Times, November 10).

If he accepts "the diachronic semantic development of our language,'' then why ignore the scientific implications of traskritt and traskrizzjoni (transcribed and transcription) and use other words? Hunting for supporting references for the use of the word miktuba (written) by writers, lexicographers and scholars who are not referring to the ethnographers' mediating role in their work (see, my contribution, The Sunday Times, September 22) is a self-defeatist exercise and a lack of a rigorous accounting of all the evidence - for example, Salvu Mallia's phrase quoted by Borg, i.e., "fil-kitba tieghu ta' tifsir tal-hrejjef'' ("in his writing of the explanations to the tales'') does not refer to Manwel Magri's transcription of his texts but to Magri's comments and notes on his texts!

Cassar-Pullicino's use of the descriptive phrase "miktubin bi stil popolari'' is justified, as Borg knows very well that Cassar-Pullicino throughout his essay "Patri Magri u l-Istudju tal-Hrejjef Maltin'' (Fr Magri and the Study of Maltese Folktales), Manwel Magri. Hrejjef Missirijietna [l-Ewwel Gabra], Malta, 1967, pp. 11-26, discusses inter alia the question of Magri's tampering with his texts since Magri did not transcribe his texts verbatim in the modern sense of the term! It is not a question of Malti Safi or etymology, as Borg implies, but the proper use of tropes as ethnography demands.

2. With reference to Ragonesi's book Maltese Folksong 'Ghana'..., Borg contends that as editor "it was my duty to clarify the difference, more so considering the publication could be consulted by foreign scholars. A footnote would have been ideal and very welcome'' (The Sunday Times, November 10). Ragonesi's book is a bibliography with no room for explanatory notes either for foreigners or locals for that matter. Bibliographies provide the titles of references, not the contents of these references.

3. Borg's references to Guzi Gatt's and Joseph Vella-Bondin's comments on the use of the terms rabbaba/zavzava do not alter the whole issue by one iota: Borg only relies on their opinions whereas a balanced and objective scholar who is worthy of the name should test all possible hypotheses and open his mind to voices and then draw his own conclusions. No mention of Borg-Cardona's research or her recent letter to The Sunday Times (October 13) is found in Borg's comments!

Vella-Bondin (Il-Muzika ta' Malta fis-Sekli Dsatax u Ghoxrin, Kullana Kulturali 19, Malta, 2000, p. 95) commenting on George Percy Badger in the early years of the 19th century, remarks: "...Badger jghaddi biex isemmi z-zavzava jew, kif tissejjah ukoll b'mod li jidher inkorrett, ir-rabbaba.'' ("Badger goes on to mention zavzava or, as it also seems to be incorrectly called, rabbaba''; my emphasis). However, neither Vella-Bondin nor Gatt has undertaken thick diachronic-synchronic research work in Malta and Gozo, as Anna Borg-Cardona has done.

The latter concludes: "Though it is very likely that some form of friction drum was used in Malta much earlier than the 18th century, no definite proof of this has so far come to light. By at least the mid-18th century, a type of friction drum known as rbaba or rabbaba was clearly well established on the islands. The first description we have shows Franco-Flemish similarities. This type of instrument is now no longer in use and there is no recollection of it in folk memory.

"The early 19th century description by Badger shows Spanish affinities. Of this type there is also no recollection in folk memory. The present-day friction drum, the only one still in use today, shows closest resemblance to the Neapolitan instrument, not only in construction, but also in its context of use, and the type of instruments accompanying it... By around 1800 we begin to find two names for the drum, rabbaba and zuvzafa, co-existing in Malta.

"To this day, in some areas it remains known exclusively by the name rabbaba, while in others it is referred to solely by the alternative name zuvzafa.'' (Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, pp. 209, 210; my emphasis). Thus, Borg's "consternation'' that the use of both terms "may lead to unwarranted confusion'' (The Sunday Times, November 10) does not hold.

The concept of variations is a major issue in folkloristics. It is the pseudo-scholar who creates confusion through his fixed ideas and not our informant-collaborators! This is what my ethnographic experience has always proven to me. I fully support Borg-Cardona's remarks that "the people who make and play the instruments ... are well aware of what they are referring to... Serious musicological research demands our acceptance of the facts before us, not an attempt to change them... It is extremely important to retain both names.

Eradicating one would be excluding an important part - in this case perhaps the most relevant part - of the friction drum's history on the Maltese Islands.'' (The Sunday Times, October 13, p. 18). Borg insists that "This country [Malta] needs a revolution of the consciousness'' (The Sunday Times, October 6), yet he does not seem to be ready to embark on it himself by accepting ethnographic facts, accusing me instead of "wriggling around ... to pre-determined conclusions''.

4. Borg still contends that his contribution to Il-Mument (October 21, 2001) "was handed in as a preview and not as a review ... [and that it] was unfortunate that Toni Cachia Il-Hammarun happened to celebrate his birthday after I had written the contribution, way back in summer of 2001, but before it was published.'' (The Sunday Times, November 10). What about Toni Camilleri It-Tommy, who was reported to have played it-tanbur, but never participated in the performances? If, as he rightly contends, that "anyone who is familiar with how the press operates knows that it is not up to the contributor to decide when an article, contribution, letter or even a book, is published'' (ibid.), why did he not keep in touch with the newspaper's editor to correct the changes which had taken place in Etnika's performances? This does not remove the blame from Borg as the author.

Maltese editors are well known for understanding, supporting and helping their contributors. Yet, in his October 6 contribution to The Sunday Times he finds fault with me because, he says that following his contribution to Il-Mument, I should have contacted him first on my queries before I went to print! Again, Borg accuses me of "wriggling around ... to pre-determined conclusions''.

5. In his other contribution (The Sunday Times, October 6) Borg accuses me of "nit-picking criticism'' and denigration. Now he has changed his tune and accuses me of pathemic arrangement of envy - "I find it hard to believe that he is not actually envious of the ensemble's success ... Could it be that he feels Etnika is 'trespassing' into his home turf, Maltese folk music?'' I'm neither envious nor would I wish to emulate Borg's conclusions vis-à-vis the Zgej-Spagnol performance or his neglecting credit to Cassar-Pullicino's Hahaj recording.

However, I am pleased that Etnika is developing its own creative musical repertoire - I do mention this in my lectures and papers locally and abroad, the latest being in November to a group of teachers working on a Comenius joint-project, among whom there was one of Etnika's great aficionados and whom Mr Borg knows.

Is it normal for an impassioned envious subject, as Borg has relegated me, to praise his focalised "rival''? Is it normal for an envious person to speak well of Etnika, my "rival'', as implied by Borg, when last summer I was asked to give my opinion of the group by someone at the top (for ethical reasons I am not publicly divulging the person's name, but if asked by The Sunday Times editor I will give details readily), resulting in their participation in a prestigious cultural event?!

Is it normal for someone who has been accused of fearing for "his home turf, Maltese folk music'' to readily pass on Etnika's contact number without ado, as I have repeatedly done, the last instance being to Mro Victor Zammit last October? Is it typical of an envious subject to ask his "rival'', in this case Mr Andrew Alamango, way back in May 2001 to contact me as artistic director of the Malta National Folk Singing (Ghana) Festival should he intend to have Etnika participate in the next edition?

Is it normal of an envious person to welcome Mr Alamango, Etnika's co-ordinator's friendly approach, last September 22 when my first contribution on this subject was published in The Sunday Times, to discuss matters for the improvement of the ensemble's musical repertoire?

6. Let me assure Borg that I have no "home turf'' in Maltese folk singing. I am only interested in culture in general and Maltese culture in particular with special reference to other areas of research including narrative, paremiology and material culture. Whether he "will... follow attentively'' or not "all... (my) efforts towards promoting local culture in order to learn from... (my) expertise and try to emulate the professionalism in everything... (I do),'' that is his business.

To date I am sorry to say he has failed in what ethnographers define as "deontology'' of scholarship and research. His unwarranted comments on rabbaba/avava prove him to be an outside observer with a false perception of Maltese values, as against the group members. Borg has extended his own personal perception and impressions, ignoring or wrongly interpreting what is accepted by the contemporary Maltese community.

I suggest Borg read contemporary scholars of the mark of Hoppál and Ispas. To quote one of the former's recent studies, "without the examination of local traditions, values and beliefs, all good intention will get trapped in dilettantism and exhaust itself in the repetition of hollow slogans.'' (See, "Tradition, Value System and Identity: Notes on Local Cultures,'' Authenticity, Budapest, 2002, p. 14.)

Ispas condemns the "specialist'' who "exceeds his qualification, or if he states value judgments pretending to be absolute truths of a scientific authority ... which he is not entitled to do, a subjective angle may be detrimental not only to the results of research, but especially to the subsequent stages of data collection, undertaken by other specialists..." ("Some Considerations on Ethnic Issues in Folklore Today,'' op. cit., pp. 23-24.)