Geography and Giallo: Representations of Cities and Regional Identities in Contemporary Italian Detective Series

Abstract

From the very beginning, the crime novel has shown a privileged relation to physical space. This characteristic is particularly true for the Italian crime novel, as the polycentric history of the peninsula created a polycentric literature, deeply influenced by local history and culture. This fragmentation is still represented in Italian crime fiction. Taking into account the vast production in Italy, this research concentrates on a successful wave of writers generically called 'of the 1990s', focusing on the detective series first published in the decade between 1992 (the date of publication of Carlo Lucarelli's Nikita) and 2001 (the date of publication of the first book of Piero Colaprico and Pietro Valpreda's series). This research concentrates on the detective fiction subgenre, both in the form of private eye novels and of police procedurals, as the figure of the detective seems to have a privileged relation with the place where he/she works. It also focuses on series as this kind of publication gives many opportunities to create a distinctive sense of place and therefore provide a scholar with valuable material for a thorough analysis.

Part I of the research is dedicated to the representation of cities. In this section it is argued that they are represented with their specific characteristic and flavour. Generally speaking, the writers analysed in this thesis cover a wide range of representation from the celebration of a unique city to the pessimism typical of the hard-boiled tradition, disputing a common argument according to which detective fiction gives a stereotyped image of the urban.

Part II is devoted to urban sprawl. This research shows that Italian writers did not import this postmodern topic passively, but that they adapted it to local themes. Finally, in Part III the relation between the giallo and the island is tackled. The analysis of two series demonstrates that detective fiction reworks themes that are typical of mainstream literature, performing, together with the crime investigation, an in-depth investigation into local society and identity. To date, systematic studies that cover Italian detective series in the 1990s with a geographical approach have not been published This thesis is the first study to investigate comprehensively the fascinating ways in which the Italian giallo both reflects and reflects upon its geographical setting. It argues for the importance of Italystudying the genre in order to fully understand the connections between literature and place in contemporary Italy.