For those unfamiliar with Latin, is a phrase used to describe a global city as the capital of the world. Some major cities since ancient times have been described as the caput mundi. They include Rome, Paris, New York City and Washington.
So, is Malta unwittingly claiming to be the new caput mundi? One needs experience in psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis to delve into the national psyche of a small nation hardly the size of a European small town. We are proud of our millennial history, even if most of it is characterised by colonial domination. Some still think that Malta is the bulwark of Roman Catholicism.
They oppose the liberal civil rights that are now taken for granted in most other Catholic countries. More recently, we have projected ourselves as the most liberal country concerning LGBT rights, proving that we are ‘the best in Europe’ – an abused political slogan. When experienced historians write about the social history of Malta, they will undoubtedly describe the characteristics that define the Maltese stereotype.
We see ourselves as a friendly nation where family values come first and like to think that we are exemplary Christians who do not suffer from prejudice, hate, discrimination and xenophobia. At least, this is how tourism policymakers pitch their marketing campaigns to attract the lower end of the tourism market. An honest, soul-searching exercise will soon uncover the shallowness of our self-assessed exaggerated excellence.
Such an exercise .