The minister of finance rightly acknowledged that if this country wants to look ahead towards viable and sustainable growth, a revision of the government’s economic policy is due.
Recent economic history shows that small-scale, high-end, specialised industry has been the most resilient sector of the Maltese economy since independence. In my humble opinion, that lesson should not be overlooked in the drafting of any future economic policy.
Over the past 60 years, such industries have weathered the storms of international crises and kept contributing significantly towards the creation of jobs and economic stability. This, however, is not an article about economic policy.
Instead, I want to make an argument about industries that the state ought to consider ‘essential’ (as happens in France, Finland and Sweden); not necessarily from an economic point of view, but because of the fundamental role they play within the wider scope of providing the state with its identity.
Such industries deserve the protection of the state since their distinctiveness often makes them particularly vulnerable to unfavourable shifts in the economic climate.
The book industry is a case in point. As the economy is the material sustenance of the state, so is culture its spiritual nourishment.
Allow me a small historical detour.
The idea of Maltese nationality predates the Maltese state by centuries. One can argue that it goes back to the mid-17th century, when the local intelligentsia, in synch with the ruling Order of St John, gathered what was the growing sentiment on the European continent and began to identify this as ‘la nation Maltese’, the state being a ‘res pubblica religiosa’.
The idea of a ‘Maltese nation’ endured despite subsequent changes of regime. In 1802, the country’s political elite declared this nation’s independence, a declaration conveniently forgotten during a century and a half of British colonialism but not by the nationalists whose ardent struggle was further inflamed by the presence of Italian refugees themselves keen to ignite the fires of the Risorgimento.
In the meantime, a small minority among the educated classes realised that the Maltese language was not just an element of ‘national’ distinction but also a weapon in the struggle towards emancipation from colonialism and set out to write a grammar for the language and use it for literary purposes.
The Church was among the first to realise the utility of the Maltese language, especially to communicate and educate the masses in Catholic doctrine (and draw them away from the perils of the soul, especially those embodied by the nascent socialist movement).
By the early 20th century, nationalists and labour activists alike could see the political value of communicating to the populace in Maltese while more individuals from the intelligentsia were sensitised to the literary value of the language.
I made this detour to establish one point: print, whether in books or newspapers, was fundamental to creating and maintaining alive the identity of this nation. Whether it took the form of political or religious literature, journalism, poetry or novels, books, newspapers and pamphlets ascertained continuity and debate, forming a national consciousness in the process.
The publishing industry, even if it was never a major employer or contributor to material wealth, has played a crucial part in the spiritual and cultural formation of this nation.
The publishing industry has played a crucial part in the spiritual and cultural formation of this nation- Aleks Farrugia
The policymaker, even when drafting an economic policy, cannot discard the fact that growth cannot be measured only in material terms. It’s similar to the way that product development in any company has to live up to the identity of the brand and, beyond mere material profit, seek to preserve and enhance such an identity (which, in turn, will strengthen the goodwill of the company, which is its competitive advantage).
Nation-states learnt early on that a strong identity is fundamental for survival. There is no better evidence than the excesses of authoritarian states’ obsessive control of the word in general – literature and scholarship, in particular – including the abhorrent ritual of burning books.
The book industry is a key player to keep Maltese culture and identity alive. Every year, the local book industry publishes tons of new literature and new research. Some of this is then exported, putting Malta on the map of international scholarship and literature.
In education, from primary school onwards, its role is irreplaceable. Without it, we would have an education dependent on the narratives of others, removed from our experience, like having to express one’s intimate emotions with a borrowed tongue.
Right now the local book industry is not faring well.
Ours is a small market. That’s a reality there isn’t much to do about. A book that’s not on school curricula doesn’t sell in thousands. In the meantime, the price of paper has skyrocketed and inflation has upped the prices of production. And no, e-books are not as cheap an alternative as they might seem.
The book industry in Malta needs state assistance now.
It may soon be a life-or-death situation for most of the local publishers. Imagine what a loss that would be; what a catastrophe for Maltese literature and scholarship that, at the very moment when the Maltese book has reached the best of standards, it would have to endure the collapse of the industry. Bitter irony indeed.
We are not a nation of readers (generally speaking). In fact, we don’t even have a proper bookshop – you know, of the kind where the book is not a mere object of consumption but where the person selling you a book demonstrably knows something about books and shows a modicum of passion towards them.
There isn’t even a damn proper bookshop on campus. Can you believe that?
That said, it doesn’t mean that the book industry is expendable. On the contrary, it is a further affirmation of its importance, of the crucial need that the Maltese state promotes and protects this industry.
It is in the state’s self-interest of preservation that this doesn’t become a nation of dead souls.