Bologna's Noir Identity: Narrating the City in Carlo Lucarelli's Crime Fiction

Author: Rinaldi, Lucia

Source: Italian Studies, Volume 64, Number 1, Spring 2009 , pp. 120-133(14)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

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Abstract:

This article examines the representation of Bologna in Carlo Lucarelli's crime fiction. It focuses mainly on his early novels: the comic trilogy which includes Nikita (1992), Falange armata (1993) and Il giorno del lupo (1994), and on his most successful noir novel Almost blue (1997). In these crime stories, Lucarelli makes Bologna a prominent character and embarks on discussing issues of identity, social change, and urban growth. However, by drawing on traditional noir narratives, he especially elaborates his notion of Bologna's dark side, and ponders on the tensions generated by the development of new youth cultures, new metropolitan communities, and new forms of criminality. Bologna is portrayed as a disquieting noir city, but it is ultimately presented as a symbol of the postmodern metropolis (or postmetropolis): a space in transition characterized by constant transformations and elusive identities.

Keywords: LUCARELLI; BOLOGNA; CRIME FICTION; NOIR; POSTMETROPOLIS; ALMOST BLUE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1179/174861809X405836

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