Between the end of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, criminal anthropology was a very influential theory for criminologists throughout the western world. Proposed by the Italian alienist Cesare Lombroso, its theoretical core centred on the figure of the “criminal man,” a character atavistic instinct forced to live a life of crime. By filling a gap in the literature, this work deals with the historical and sociological circumstances in which criminal anthropology emerged and prospered, and concentrates on the impact Lombroso’s theory had on the development of scientific policing in Italy since the beginning of the twentieth century. A detailed account of the causes that favoured the rise of Lombroso’s scientific police provides an explanation for the appeal criminal anthropology exerted on western political elites. In Italy, the Lombrosian approach left his mark on the development of highly specific forensic tools like fingerprinting, and this had a strong impact on their utilisation by fascist authorities as the account of a famous case of identity fraud occurred in Italy in 1927 revealed. As a result, it is argued that the production of Lombrosian scientific policing was shaped by the wider cultural and social goals of the actors involved, as it is of any other form of knowledge. By choosing to sideline Lombrosian techniques, fascist authorities favoured the exploitation of un-scientific methods of crime prevention that, it is argued, were not perceived as inferior, anachronistic, or unreliable. Such a choice was dictated by specific social goals that favoured the implementation of constitutional anthropology on Lombrosian science of the deviance. Finally, it is suggested that this socio-historical reading of the Italian case could cast more light on the complex relationship between totalitarianism, technology, and forms public surveillance.

Cette thèse de doctorat a pour objectif d’interroger les relations entre littérature, droit et sciences médicales à l’intérieur de ce qu’on appelle le roman « judiciaire », genre qui s’est développé en Italie dans une période comprise entre l’Unité nationale et le tout début du XXème siècle. Dans ce cadre, nous nous questionnons essentiellement sur l’élément principal qui émerge de cette relation interdisciplinaire, à savoir la construction de la figure du criminel. Dans cette perspective, nous avons pu en effet dégager que la construction de cette figure est centrale dans de nombreux romans de la période post-unitaire. En nous concentrant ensuite sur la notion de genre, nous nous sommes départis de la querelle désormais séculaire inhérente à la naissance (voire à l’existence même) du roman policier italien. Notre analyse souligne enfin que c’est dans la relation entre littérature, droit et sciences médicales que se révèle toute la valeur de ces romans judiciaires dans le processus de construction de l’identité nationale italienne.Notre travail est composé de deux parties. La première, à caractère historique, entend proposer une nouvelle définition du genre dit « judiciaire », après avoir examiné avec attention, et parfois révoqué en doute, les hypothèses avancées jusqu’à nos jours, sur le sujet, par la critique. La seconde partie s’appuie sur deux cas spécifiques – Colonia felice de C. Dossi et Romanzo di Misdea de E. Scarfoglio – qui nous ont permis d’étudier la composition des différentes figures du criminel, attestant de l’efficacité de la méthode interdisciplinaire adoptée, et en portant une attention toute particulière aux théories de Cesare Lombroso. / This doctoral thesis aims to investigate the relations between literature, law, and medicine in the so-called “legal novel”—a genre that has developed in Italy between the national unification and the very beginning of the 20th century. My discussion examines the centrepiece of this interdisciplinary connection—namely, the literary construction of the figure of the criminal. Through this argument I show that the characterization of the criminal is central to several novels of the period following the unification. Turning then to the notion of genre, my thesis considers the long-standing debate surrounding the origins (and the existence itself) of the Italian detective novel. Finally, I suggest that the intersection between literature, law, and medicine sheds an important light on the role played by the legal novel in the construction of Italian national identity.My study falls into two parts. The first section is historical; it seeks to offer a new definition of the “legal” novelistic genre, building on—and partially questioning—the existing literature on the topic. The second part centres on two case studies, C. Dossi’s Colonia felice and E. Scarfoglio’s Romanzo di Misdea. These close readings enable me to further examine the characterization of different criminal figures, demonstrating the fruitfulness of this interdisciplinary methodology while placing a particular emphasis on Cesare Lombroso’s theories.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-183).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 391-402).

<p>The creatures known as vampires have inspired authors for several hundred years. These beings are stereotypically described as belonging to a “nocturnal species” who live “in shadows” and drink “our lives in secrecy” (Auerbach 1). However, they have by now appeared so often in literary works, and in so many different shapes and sizes, that they are much too nuanced to be called ‘stereotypes.’</p><p>This essay will make a historical comparison between two fictional vampires, one hundred years apart, in order to show that a change has taken place when it comes to how vampires as fictional characters have been portrayed in terms of their appearance, their psychology, and their roles in society. The first novel chosen is, for obvious reasons, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was written at the turn of the nineteenth century by a male author and is probably the first novel that comes into mind when the word vampire is mentioned. The second novel, The Vampire Lestat, was written almost a century later, in 1986, by a female author, who, to readers of vampire fiction, is a worthy successor of Stoker. Her name is Anne Rice, best known for her debut novel Interview with the Vampire (1976).</p><p>The two novels are naturally chosen because of their similarities, but perhaps even more so because of their differences. Dracula is a typically Victorian Gothic novel, which is set in the remote mountains of Transylvania, and in the modern capital London, contemporary to when the novel was published. It is written in epistolary form but never allows for the main character, Count Dracula, to defend or explain himself and his actions in a first-person narrative.</p><p>The Vampire Lestat, on the other hand, is a Neo-Gothic novel that focus less on conventional Gothic elements, for example gloomy settings, and more on the psychological aspects of what it is like to actually be a vampire. Unlike Dracula, it is the main character’s fictional autobiography in which he recalls his life in France, his transformation into a vampire, and his current career in the United States as a famous rock star. Nina Auerbach calls it “a series of temporal regressions in which Lestat . . . embarks on a backward quest out of the knowable world” (172).</p><p>Both novels used in this analysis are thus part of the Gothic genre, one being a Victorian Gothic and the other Neo-Gothic, but there are significant differences between the two. I will investigate how these differences reveal themselves when it comes to setting and plot. However, the novels are similar in that they present two male vampires who belong to the nobility and have lived on through the centuries. The vampires both want to be where the power is, which means, in the case of Stoker’s Dracula, that he tries to conquer nineteenth-century London and seduce a young intelligent woman named Mina. Lestat, on the other hand, wants to become a famous twentieth-century rock star in the United States and simply have a good time while being a vampire (Auerbach 6).</p><p>The aim of this essay is to investigate what is typical of the genres that the two novels belong to and determine what has changed in the vampires’ physical appearance, their manners and their ability to adapt to modern society. In the first section of the essay I will give a description of the typical elements of the Gothic and the Neo-Gothic genres and then compare them in order to make a generic description of the two novels, Dracula and The Vampire Lestat. Vampire fiction will be treated as a sub-genre to the Gothic genre. In the succeeding two sections I will make comparative analyses of the two novels, particularly of the main characters, in order to describe the similarities and differences between the two and study how the vampire character has changed during the last century. Much of the discussion, especially regarding Dracula, will be based on Cesare Lombroso’s concept of the ‘criminal man,’ and various modern scholars’ opinion that the vampire is seen as an outcast and a threat to society.</p>

The creatures known as vampires have inspired authors for several hundred years. These beings are stereotypically described as belonging to a “nocturnal species” who live “in shadows” and drink “our lives in secrecy” (Auerbach 1). However, they have by now appeared so often in literary works, and in so many different shapes and sizes, that they are much too nuanced to be called ‘stereotypes.’ This essay will make a historical comparison between two fictional vampires, one hundred years apart, in order to show that a change has taken place when it comes to how vampires as fictional characters have been portrayed in terms of their appearance, their psychology, and their roles in society. The first novel chosen is, for obvious reasons, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was written at the turn of the nineteenth century by a male author and is probably the first novel that comes into mind when the word vampire is mentioned. The second novel, The Vampire Lestat, was written almost a century later, in 1986, by a female author, who, to readers of vampire fiction, is a worthy successor of Stoker. Her name is Anne Rice, best known for her debut novel Interview with the Vampire (1976). The two novels are naturally chosen because of their similarities, but perhaps even more so because of their differences. Dracula is a typically Victorian Gothic novel, which is set in the remote mountains of Transylvania, and in the modern capital London, contemporary to when the novel was published. It is written in epistolary form but never allows for the main character, Count Dracula, to defend or explain himself and his actions in a first-person narrative. The Vampire Lestat, on the other hand, is a Neo-Gothic novel that focus less on conventional Gothic elements, for example gloomy settings, and more on the psychological aspects of what it is like to actually be a vampire. Unlike Dracula, it is the main character’s fictional autobiography in which he recalls his life in France, his transformation into a vampire, and his current career in the United States as a famous rock star. Nina Auerbach calls it “a series of temporal regressions in which Lestat . . . embarks on a backward quest out of the knowable world” (172). Both novels used in this analysis are thus part of the Gothic genre, one being a Victorian Gothic and the other Neo-Gothic, but there are significant differences between the two. I will investigate how these differences reveal themselves when it comes to setting and plot. However, the novels are similar in that they present two male vampires who belong to the nobility and have lived on through the centuries. The vampires both want to be where the power is, which means, in the case of Stoker’s Dracula, that he tries to conquer nineteenth-century London and seduce a young intelligent woman named Mina. Lestat, on the other hand, wants to become a famous twentieth-century rock star in the United States and simply have a good time while being a vampire (Auerbach 6). The aim of this essay is to investigate what is typical of the genres that the two novels belong to and determine what has changed in the vampires’ physical appearance, their manners and their ability to adapt to modern society. In the first section of the essay I will give a description of the typical elements of the Gothic and the Neo-Gothic genres and then compare them in order to make a generic description of the two novels, Dracula and The Vampire Lestat. Vampire fiction will be treated as a sub-genre to the Gothic genre. In the succeeding two sections I will make comparative analyses of the two novels, particularly of the main characters, in order to describe the similarities and differences between the two and study how the vampire character has changed during the last century. Much of the discussion, especially regarding Dracula, will be based on Cesare Lombroso’s concept of the ‘criminal man,’ and various modern scholars’ opinion that the vampire is seen as an outcast and a threat to society.