The Mafia: A Cultural History

What is it about Tony Soprano that makes him so amiable? For that matter, how is it that many of us secretly want Scarface to succeed or see Michael Corleone as, ultimately, a hero? What draws us into the otherwise horrifically violent world of the mafia? In The Mafia, Roberto M. Dainotto explores the irresistible appeal of this particular brand of organized crime, its history, and the mythology we have developed around it.

Dainotto traces the development of the mafia from its rural beginnings in Western Sicily to its growth into a global crime organization alongside a parallel examination of its evolution in music, print, and on the big screen. He probes the tension between the real mafia--its violent, often brutal reality--and how we imagine it to be: a mythical potpourri of codes of honor, family values, and chivalry. But rather than dismiss our collective imagining of the mafia as a complete fiction, Dainotto instead sets out to understand what needs and desires or material and psychic longing our fantasies about the mafia--the best kind of the bad life--are meant to satisfy.

Exploring the rich array of films, books, television programs, music, and even video games portraying and inspired by the mafia, this book offers not only a social, economic, and political history of one of the most iconic underground cultures, but a new way of understanding our enduring fascination with the complex society that lurks behind the sinister Omert of the family business.

Author: Roberto M. Dainotto
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 03/15/2019
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781780239934

About the Author
Dainotto, Roberto M.: - Born in Sicily, Roberto M. Dainotto is professor of romance studies and of literature at Duke University. He is the author of Europe (in Theory).