This thesis focuses on the underlying mechanisms of Sciascia's writing, especially on its social destiny and literary scope. Beyond realism, Sciascia's writing comprises important information regarding the author's conception of the intellectual's work in the political and social domains. Sciascia had to develop writing techniques that enable him to efficiently merge his essayist bent and narrative inspiration, his penchant to document facts and his capacity to create them artistically. These are the origins of his unusual narrative technique--an amalgam of the eighteenth century essay and contemporary detective novel, locked in a crossroads of reason and non-reason. Sciascia's cultural background, a section between illuminism and Marxism, is the reason behind his need to ignore the traditional divisions between literary genres in order to originate a text which vehicles both his social and political engagement and his artistic creation. Although Sciascia's works reflect this unique pattern, critical studies to date have overlooked it, mislead, as they may be, by the polemic impact of the text and the man behind it.

Leonardo Sciascia was undoubtedly a prominent figure of Italian public life due to his scathing criticism of the Mafia and of occult power. Unfortunately, most critics have relegated him to the role of mere detractor of Italy's corrupt public and private mores. We cannot deny that he did indeed fulfill this role as well; however the overall literary value of his works by far exceeds that of a statement of charges against organized crime. His literary production can be in fact interpreted as a safe haven for truth against the establishment's drive to obliterate it. This thesis aims at reasserting the true literary value of Sciascia's works. There is in fact a gateway between history and literature and Sciascia crossed it repeatedly by using the investigative essay as a weapon against historiography and the "official" version of facts. It is by this means that Sciascia attained literary craftsmanship without ever departing from his sworn moral commitment to uphold the struggle against the establishment. In this thesis we have analyzed the various literary tools of which Sciascia has made use: the prolonged metaphor, metaphoric speech and the creation of a hybrid genre, the investigative essay. Our analysis led us to some findings which we have expounded in the conclusion.

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Cette étude concerne l'histoire de la littérature de mafia sicilienne et analyse le rapport existant entre mafia et littérature, dans le but de rendre compte de la façon dont la mafia a été représentée dans les diverses oeuvres narratives, avec une attention toute particulière portée à la production de Leonardo Sciascia. En commençant d'abord par une brève introduction historique, afin de restituer le contexte général dans lequel ce phénomène est né, puis en faisant un compte-rendu critique de l'histoire de la littérature de mafia, selon une progression chronologique, en partant de la naissance de la mafia, attestée autour de l'époque de l'Unité italienne, jusqu'aux années 1990. L'objectif que nous nous sommes fixés est de voir comment, d'un discours de négation de la mafia à une apologie manifeste ou cachée, on est arrivé à une dénonciation ouverte, et comment cette dénonciation est passée de la page littéraire à la dénonciation civile / This study concerns the literature relates to Sicilian mafia and provides an analysis of the link between mafia and literature, in order to account for the different ways mafia has been depicted in diverse narrative works, and specially in Leonardo Sciascia's literary output. We will begin with a brief historical introduction so as to convey the general background in which this phenomenon took place. Then we will give a critical account for the history of mafia literature, chronologically progressing from the advent of mafia, which was attested in the days of Italian Unity up to the years 1990. We aim to see how, from a discourse which denies the existence of mafia to an apology for it, being either obvious or hidden, we have come to a clear denunciation of mafia, and how this denunciations has proceeded from literature to civil life.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 218-224). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The main purpose of this thesis is to illustrate Sciascia's work concerning the "mafia". It implies a previous discussion on the mafia and why no government could destroy it . It also points out its relationship with the Sicilia society and other countries on earth. The introduction gives an account of the history of Sicily and its invaders throughout the centuries. The formation of the old law of "omerta" (conspiracy of silence) developed as a defense and protection against the harsh rule of the Spaniards who dominated the island continually from the fifteenth century till 1860. This old law became the basic principle of the mafia as illustrated in the four novels written by Leonardo Sciascia. The titles are as follows: 1. II giorno della civetta (The Day of the Owl); 2. A ciascuno i l suo (To Each his Own); 3. Todo modo (One Way or Another); 4. II contesto (Equal Danger). The structure of each novel is the same as generally found in the detective story genre but without any denouement. The first chapter deals with "II giorno della civetta" where examples of local mafia are illustrated including the struggle for justice. Sciascia shows the structure of the mafia in a small Sicilian town. The second chapter analyzes the novel "A ciascuno i l suo" where the mafia infiltrates the government and many political sectors. In chapter four "II contesto" one encounters an urban, cosmopolitan system of corruption involving the elite class of judges and high political party leaders. Sciascia challenges the very institution of justice, political parties and the government at large. He takes on himself the responsibility, as writer, to push for the recognition of moral values of a society and an era. The epilogue covers the efforts of the "Antimafia" men in their attempt to put down the mafia. The end covers the international mafia and its criminal underground activities such as the drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, etc. Various antimafia personalities have been killed in this campaign and the struggle continues today in spite of many "mafia bosses" having been arrested.

Diss.--Lett.--Dresde, Allemagne--Univ., 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 371-386. Index.

The main purpose of this thesis is to illustrate Sciascia's work concerning the "mafia". It implies a previous discussion on the mafia and why no government could destroy it . It also points out its relationship with the Sicilia society and other countries on earth. The introduction gives an account of the history of Sicily and its invaders throughout the centuries. The formation of the old law of "omerta" (conspiracy of silence) developed as a defense and protection against the harsh rule of the Spaniards who dominated the island continually from the fifteenth century till 1860. This old law became the basic principle of the mafia as illustrated in the four novels written by Leonardo Sciascia. The titles are as follows: 1. II giorno della civetta (The Day of the Owl); 2. A ciascuno i l suo (To Each his Own); 3. Todo modo (One Way or Another); 4. II contesto (Equal Danger). The structure of each novel is the same as generally found in the detective story genre but without any denouement. The first chapter deals with "II giorno della civetta" where examples of local mafia are illustrated including the struggle for justice. Sciascia shows the structure of the mafia in a small Sicilian town. The second chapter analyzes the novel "A ciascuno i l suo" where the mafia infiltrates the government and many political sectors. In chapter four "II contesto" one encounters an urban, cosmopolitan system of corruption involving the elite class of judges and high political party leaders. Sciascia challenges the very institution of justice, political parties and the government at large. He takes on himself the responsibility, as writer, to push for the recognition of moral values of a society and an era. The epilogue covers the efforts of the "Antimafia" men in their attempt to put down the mafia. The end covers the international mafia and its criminal underground activities such as the drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, etc. Various antimafia personalities have been killed in this campaign and the struggle continues today in spite of many "mafia bosses" having been arrested. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2010. / "Graduate Program in Italian." Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-160).