Monograph dedicated to hymns and the language question
Due to the war, being pro-British meant that one would be anti-Italian and vice versa
L-Innijiet il-Kbar Bit-Taljan tal-Festi F’Għawdex (Gozo 2025)
by Charles Bezzina
A specific feature peculiar to the titular feasts of Gozo, and to some in Malta too, is the innu kbir or traditional hymn in Italian sung before the titular statue of a locality is carried shoulder high around the streets of our towns and villages.
During World War II, with our islands being a colony of Britain, Italian became a lingua non grata – a language to be condemned.
There was a movement in favour of the abolition of Italian from all public circles. These festive hymns could no longer be sung in Italian. The hymns in honour of St Margareth of Antioch and St George of Lydda sung for the titular feasts of Ta’ Sannat and Victoria respectively were translated from Italian into Latin so that they could still be sung on their respective feast days.
Charles Bezzina provides us with a detailed account of the historical milieu in which this condemnation of Italianità unfolded on the island of Gozo where the people were practically divided between pro-British or pro-Italian. Due to the war, being pro-British meant that one would be anti-Italian and vice versa.
One has to keep in mind that before World War II, the two main political parties dominated by Sir Gerard Strickland and Nerik Mizzi were the main instigators of this policy even due to the language question that had characterised the Maltese political stage for decades.
The hymn in honour of the Assumption, titular of the Cathedral church, was not translated into Latin because the supporters of the Leone Band Club did not reach an agreement. In 1943, the supporters of this feast challenged the local authorities and sung by heart the last verse of the hymn in Italian; fortunately enough, they did not incur any punishment.
The last few pages of this monograph are dedicated to photographs of the prominent individuals involved in the translations of the hymns; the author also provides the reader with the text in Latin of the two hymns mentioned above, a task that was entrusted to the Latinist priest from Tarxien, Mgr Ġużeppi Schembri, who lived on the island of Gozo as a refugee during the turbulent wartime years.
Bezzina’s monograph has brought to the attention of the reading public a theme that would have otherwise most probably remained unaddressed and is, therefore, to be praised for his effort in producing such an interesting study.