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Simone Giuseppe Verace, Université de Lille, FranceAbstract
This paper investigates how cultural representations contribute to the construction of the mafia imaginary in contemporary Italy. Rather than approaching the mafia exclusively as a historical or criminal phenomenon, the study examines the narrative processes through which it becomes culturally intelligible and symbolically meaningful. Through a comparative analysis of the television series Il capo dei capi (Taodue, 2007) and Gaetano Savatteri's novel La congiura dei loquaci (Sellerio, 2007), the article explores how different media construct distinct forms of visibility, emotional engagement, and public understanding of organized crime. While serialized television tends to organize the narrative around the charismatic figure of Salvatore Riina, producing a biographical structure that risks aestheticizing violence through personalization and emotional proximity, Savatteri's novel develops a counter-narrative centred on truth, institutional failure, and the structural nature of mafia power. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Stuart Hall, Pierre Bourdieu, Umberto Eco, and Jean-Pierre Esquenazi, the paper argues that literary and audiovisual texts do not simply reflect reality but actively participate in the production of symbolic frameworks through which the mafia is interpreted. Rather than evaluating the historical accuracy of these representations, this study focuses on their formal organization and cultural effects. Particular attention is devoted to narrative focalization, characterization, temporality, and symbolic hierarchy, demonstrating how different aesthetic strategies either reinforce or challenge dominant representations of organized crime. Ultimately, the paper argues that the mafia imaginary is not merely inherited from history but continuously negotiated through cultural production, where literature and television play a decisive role in shaping collective memory and public perception.
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Conference: PCAH2026Stream: Media
This paper is part of the PCAH2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Verace S. (2026) Naming the Mafia: Representation and the Construction of the Mafia Imaginary ISSN: 2758-0970 The Paris Conference on Arts & Humanities 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 199-207) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0970.2026.17
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2758-0970.2026.17
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