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METAGEUM '07
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Louis Lagana
Dr Louis Laganà |
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Conference session: The Maltese Prehistoric Goddess: A Mother Goddess or Another Deity?
Book now for whole or part of the Metageum event. |
About Louis Laganà
Dr Louis Laganà is a lecturer in Systems of Knowledge at the Junior College of the University of Malta, and he also lectures Art History (Cultural Identity), Methodology application in Art Education at the Faculty of Education, Department of Arts and Languages, University of Malta.
Dr Laganà specializes in different aspects of Modern Art, with particular focus on Jungian Aesthetics and contemporary theories of Primitivism. He is interested in theoretical applications particularly psychoanalysis and different aspects of art criticism and theory, the art of ancient cultures, especially the Prehistoric period and how it was influential in Modern art.
Dr Laganà is a member of the American Society for Aesthetics, USA (1997-), Association of Art Historians, London, U.K (2001-) and the Vittoriosa Historical and Cultural Society, Malta (2004-). Lately he was appointed a member of the editorial board of the Scientific Journals International (www.scientificjournals.org).
His recent publications include, a text book for undergraduate students, Systems of Knowledge: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 2006, published by Agenda, Malta, and a series of features and reviews in The Weekender, Lifestyle, The Times (Malta). Dr Laganà has delivered papers in many conferences in different countries and contributed articles in learned journals and newspapers.
At Metageum '07: The Maltese Prehistoric Goddess: A Mother Goddess or Another Deity?
Some scholars argue that during the prehistoric past a paradise supposedly existed in the Mediterranean region where a Mother Goddess was worshipped. Although this hypothesis is supported by a number of female figurines found in many archaeological sites today there is still a controversy among scholars about the existence of a female divinity in ancient Europe and the Mediterranean. It is claimed that goddess societies were like paradises because there was no warfare and no social hierarchy and gender discrimination. It is also said that communities were ‘gynocentric’ (woman-centred), and that women had an important role in society.
In this short paper I will present the contrasting views and arguments put forward by different writers about the hypothesis that during Neolithic times the cult of the Goddess existed in Malta. I will also present the various interpretations made by some speakers at the international conference on ‘Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean’ held at the University of Malta in September of 1985, about the statues and statuettes which were found in the Neolithic temples in Malta.