Evil narrated. Reflections on the work of Luigi Bernardi

Abstract

Although he represents an essential figure for a full understanding of the phenomenon of so-called Italian noir, which has developed since the first decade of the 2000s, Luigi Bernardi remains a profile to which academic criticism has not paid due attention. This article proposes a path of analysis that looks at both Bernardi as an author and as an essayist, considering his Atlante freddo trilogy, first published in a single volume in 2006, and two non-fiction texts such as A sangue caldo (2001) and Il male stanco (2003). The aim of this study will be to highlight the value and uniqueness of Bernardi’s work in the context of Italian crime fiction.

Keywords

• crime fiction
• genre literature
• mystery novel
• noir
• true crime