The course will explore the development of crime fiction between the nineteenth and twentieth century, both in the European and non-European area, not only by focusing on the relationship between the characters and the places, but also by paying particular attention to the Mediterranean area. As a matter of fact the Mediterranean noir is more than a label, a perception, a way of dealing with values and common themes in the narrative production of a number of writers who, coming from countries that overlook the Mediterranean, have felt the need to tell about the deep contrasts between the beauty of the places and the cruelty of the crimes that were perpetrated. The central part of the course will be devoted to the comparative analysis of the works of Jean-Claude Izzo (set in Marseilles, starring Fabio Montale), by Alicia Jiménez-Bartlett (set Barcelona, starring police inspector Petra Delicado) and Valerio Varesi.
NOVELS to read and study:
1) J.C. Izzo - Chourmo (Chourmo ed. E/O)
2) A. Giménez-Bartlett, Serpientes en el paraíso, (Serpenti nel Paradiso Sellerio ed.)
3) V. Varesi, Il commissario Soneri e la legge del corano (Frassinelli ed.)
CRITICAL ESSAYS:
- F. Bertoni, Letteratura. Teorie, metodi, strumenti (Carocci ed.)
- S.Calabrese, La crime fiction (Carocci) ;
- Y. Reuter, Il romanzo poliziesco (Ch. 2 & 3) ;
- Anthology of critical essays (dispensation in paper format and pdf)
Recommended for further information:
- L.Martinelli - E.Ricci, Narrazioni in giallo e nero, Palermo Univ.Press ;
- “Noir De Noir”: Un’indagine Pluridisciplinare, a cura di D. Vermandere e M. Jansen, Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2010;
- G.Bertieri – C.Oliva, I maestri del giallo, Ed.ATì;
- D. Panosetti, Semiotica del testo letterario, Carocci.
