Politics and Society in Italian Crime Fiction

Barbara Pezzotti teaches Italian Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and is an Honorary Research Associate of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (ACIS). She is the author of three monographs on Italian crime fiction.

“an essential anthology”—Incontri; “highlights the important function Italian crime fiction had, and still has, in reflecting the social and political issues of contemporary Italy...a great addition...a model of investigative fiction”—Annali d’italianistica; “a valuable addition to the discussion on crime and investigation in Italian literature”—Italica; “A timely and fascinating study of Italian crime fiction as politically committed art, it brilliantly illuminates how the genre both reflects and more importantly intervenes in the important social and political changes of the 20th and 21st centuries.”—Andrew Pepper, Queen’s University Belfast; “Through a careful reading of the works of some of the major writers of detective fiction from its origins to the present, Barbara Pezzotti provides a lucid and comprehensive overview of the development of the genre in Italy. She astutely demonstrates how, far from being pure escapism, Italian detective fiction has always aimed at being the nation’s critical conscience, shedding light on and articulating a critique of its social disorders and dysfunctions. A crucial book to understand why the genre has become so important in the current literary landscape.”—Luca Somigli, University of Toronto; “Interweaving history and context with full accounts of major authors, Pezzotti demonstrates for the first time how crime fiction has dynamically energized the social and political self-consciousness of modern Italy.”—Stephen Knight, Melbourne University.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionPart I—Italian Crime Fiction from Its Origins to Fascism1. Giallo Between Social Criticism and Propaganda2. Augusto De AngelisPart II—Italian Crime Fiction from the 1950s to the 1970s3. The Gumshoe Gets Political4. Giorgio Scerbanenco5. Leonardo Sciascia6. Loriano MacchiavelliPart III—Italian Crime Fiction from the 1980s to the 2000s7. The Sleuth Versus Berlusconi8. Andrea Camilleri9. Massimo Carlotto10. Marcello FoisConclusionsChapter NotesBibliographyIndex