La Trobe

Foreign Settings in the Fascist-Era Giallo: Italian Writers' Creative Explorations of Criminality and Cultural Difference

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posted on 2021-02-03, 22:28 authored by Brigid MaherBrigid Maher
© Copyright 2020 Association for the Study of Modern Italy. The 1930s saw an explosion in the publication of crime writing in Italy, but initially readers' appetite for crime fiction was fed almost entirely by translated imports from the US, Britain and France. Even as publishers began promoting crime writing by Italians, foreign models and settings remained important, and several early Italian writers set their work in foreign countries. This article, which draws on both textual analysis and archival research, examines some foreign-set novels produced by Italian authors during the Fascist years, and seeks to identify the function and appeal of foreign settings in the depiction of criminality in that period. These books, peopled by exotic 'Others', comment on corruption, freedom of the press, cultural diversity, racial difference, policing, criminality, as much at home as abroad. The distant settings offered safety and freedom, as well as escapism or distraction, and the opportunity to experiment with genre.

History

Publication Date

2020-04-08

Journal

Modern Italy

Volume

25

Issue

2

Article Number

PII S1353294419000759

Pagination

14p. (p. 163-176)

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

ISSN

1469-9877

Rights Statement

The Author reserves all moral rights over the deposited text and must be credited if any re-use occurs. Documents deposited in OPAL are the Open Access versions of outputs published elsewhere. Changes resulting from the publishing process may therefore not be reflected in this document. The final published version may be obtained via the publisher’s DOI. Please note that additional copyright and access restrictions may apply to the published version.

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