Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?

This article argues that Mediterranean crime fiction is not simply a subgenre that showcases criminal organisations and beautiful landscapes, but also a formulation that overcomes the exclusionary European borders, and makes the “parent” label Euronoir more inclusive. In order to prove this point, t...

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Main Author: Barbara Pezzotti
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Dalhousie University 2022-08-01
Series:Belphégor
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/4684
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author Barbara Pezzotti
author_facet Barbara Pezzotti
author_sort Barbara Pezzotti
collection DOAJ
description This article argues that Mediterranean crime fiction is not simply a subgenre that showcases criminal organisations and beautiful landscapes, but also a formulation that overcomes the exclusionary European borders, and makes the “parent” label Euronoir more inclusive. In order to prove this point, this article analyses Andrea Camilleri’s Il ladro di merendine (1996) and Jean Claude Izzo’s Total Khéops (1996) through the lens of transculturality (Welsch) and the idea of “third space” (Bhabha). It shows how, with their reference to a common Mediterranean culture and history, these novels shape transcultural spaces where human beings coexist and adapt to each other. Both novels make use of the concept of “homecoming” as a counter-narrative for the present anti-immigration rhetoric, and represent the Mediterranean as a Mare Nostrum which, according to Paolo Rumiz’s formulation, is a space shared by those who inhabit it, where inhabiting does not necessarily coincide with belonging or possession1. In doing so, Il ladro di merendine and Total Khéops represent Mediterranean cities as places where the encounter supersides conflict, overcoming the exclusionary mechanisms of the nation-state.
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spelling doaj-art-2c6e17b386ca4dcd896d7ecacef197f42025-08-20T01:56:00ZdeuDalhousie UniversityBelphégor1499-71852022-08-0120110.4000/belphegor.4684Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?Barbara PezzottiThis article argues that Mediterranean crime fiction is not simply a subgenre that showcases criminal organisations and beautiful landscapes, but also a formulation that overcomes the exclusionary European borders, and makes the “parent” label Euronoir more inclusive. In order to prove this point, this article analyses Andrea Camilleri’s Il ladro di merendine (1996) and Jean Claude Izzo’s Total Khéops (1996) through the lens of transculturality (Welsch) and the idea of “third space” (Bhabha). It shows how, with their reference to a common Mediterranean culture and history, these novels shape transcultural spaces where human beings coexist and adapt to each other. Both novels make use of the concept of “homecoming” as a counter-narrative for the present anti-immigration rhetoric, and represent the Mediterranean as a Mare Nostrum which, according to Paolo Rumiz’s formulation, is a space shared by those who inhabit it, where inhabiting does not necessarily coincide with belonging or possession1. In doing so, Il ladro di merendine and Total Khéops represent Mediterranean cities as places where the encounter supersides conflict, overcoming the exclusionary mechanisms of the nation-state.https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/4684detective fictiongenresItalian literatureFrench literatureMediterranean literature
spellingShingle Barbara Pezzotti
Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
Belphégor
detective fiction
genres
Italian literature
French literature
Mediterranean literature
title Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
title_full Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
title_fullStr Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
title_full_unstemmed Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
title_short Towards a definition of Mediterranean Noir or Crime in the Mediterranean: Mediterranean noir or Mediterranean crime fiction?
title_sort towards a definition of mediterranean noir or crime in the mediterranean mediterranean noir or mediterranean crime fiction
topic detective fiction
genres
Italian literature
French literature
Mediterranean literature
url https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/4684
work_keys_str_mv AT barbarapezzotti towardsadefinitionofmediterraneannoirorcrimeinthemediterraneanmediterraneannoirormediterraneancrimefiction