The Italian Detective Novel

3 units

The detective novel has an unusual and exceptionally brief history in Italy. Only within the past 35 years has an Italian version or, more precisely, subversion of the genre emerged and come to dominate the Italian literary scene. Prominent Italian writers such as Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, Leonardo Sciascia, and Luigi Malerba have deconstructed the conventions of the detective novel in order to portray the disorder and arbitrary meaning of the postmodern world. This course will explore the history of the anti-detective novel in Italy, and the philosophical and political questions the genre evokes. Readings in Italian and English. Conducted in English.