Andrea Camilleri’s Imaginary Vigàta: Between Formula and Innovation

Abstract

Andrea Camilleri (b. 1925) is one of the most famous crime writers in the world. His Inspector Montalbano series has sold 65 million books worldwide and his novels have been translated into Greek, Norwegian, Turkish, Lithuanian, Japanese, Estonian, Hungarian and Gaelic as well as the most commonly used languages (Novelli 2002, 1650–1). Among other acknowledgements, in 2008 he was included in the list of ‘50 crime writers to read before you die’ compiled by the Daily Telegraph. His undoubted success has not been equalled by positive critical reaction: he is often unfavourably compared with his fellow Sicilian and mentor, Leonardo Sciascia, and is criticized for the ‘lightness’ of his novels (Past 2012, 83).¹ He is also accused of having a bogus impegno (political commitment) that is merely a strategy to sell more books (Chu 2011, 79).² I argue here that this criticism arises from a widespread mistrust of the culture industry, in Italian academic circles, and prejudices against serial publications which are still (too) often automatically considered as a synonym for poor literary quality.³ I also argue that Camilleri consciously exploits repetitions in his Montalbano series in order to powerfully evoke in readers’ minds an imaginary space in which to develop a discourse on a dynamic Sicilian society and to engage with a number of political and social issues related to contemporary Italy. The series also introduces a new language, a mix of Italian and Sicilian dialect, which has become very popular among readers and has revived the importance of local dialects in Italian culture.