The Review: History, form and function

This evening at 6pm, at the Faculty of Arts Library at the University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, Dr Mario Aquilina will be delivering a public lecture in Maltese on The Review: History, form and function (Ir-Riċensjoni Letterarja: Storja, forma u funzjoni).

This lecture, which will be the first in a new series organised by the Department of Maltese of the Faculty of Arts called It-Taħditiet tadDiploma fil-Letteratura Maltija will focus on the literary or critical review, that is, that form of writing used to provide critical evaluations of books, plays and other literary forms.

In the first part of the lecture, Dr Aquilina will present some key ideas and concepts about the form. The second part will take the form of a short workshop for the attendees, including students reading for the Diploma in Maltese literature.

Dr Aquilina will talk about the history of the review and the different ways in which the review has been published over the centuries, especially in the context of English literature. He will then explore the effets of the new media on contemporary review writing, especially from the perspective of how the internet provides new challenges and opportunties for the writing and circulation of the form.

The second part will be a short workshop in which the participants will take a closer look at the form of the review. Examples will be used to analyse the structures, styles and aims of different reviews as well as to observe the different levels of thinking required in reiew writing.

Dr Aquilina is a lecturer at the Department of English at the University of Malta, where he teaches on the art of the essay, rhetoric, style, electronic literature, literary theory and cultural studies. His research on literature and language has been published in edited books and academic journals, such as Oxford Literary Review, Cahiers Élisabéthains, CounterText, Electronic Book Review and Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory. His first monograph, The Event of Style in Literature, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014. While focusing on subjects taught in the course for the Diploma in Maltese literature, talks delivered in It-Taħditiet tad-Diploma are open to the general public.

Everyone is invited to attend and entrance is free.