Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia was an influential Italian author born on January 8, 1921, in Racalmuto, Sicily. He began his career as a teacher before transitioning to literature and gained recognition in the 1960s for his poignant novels that explore the complexities of Sicilian society, particularly the pervasive influence of the Mafia and political corruption. Sciascia's works often reflect his neorealist style, depicting the struggles and harsh realities faced by the average Sicilian during the postwar period. His notable early novel, *Salt in the Wound*, illustrates his experiences as a schoolteacher and foreshadows the themes of societal corruption that dominate his later writings.
Sciascia's literary contributions include significant works like *Mafia Vendetta* and *A Man's Blessing*, which delve into the entanglement of crime and politics in Sicily. His writing is characterized by a simple style and a tone of bitter irony, as he often criticized the seemingly insurmountable issues within Sicilian culture. Beyond his literary endeavors, Sciascia was politically active; he served as a deputy for the Radical Party in the European Parliament and authored works addressing pressing social issues in Italy, such as *The Moro Affair*, which examines political violence. Through his concise yet powerful narratives, Sciascia emerged as a critical voice in Italian literature, profoundly engaging with the darker aspects of Sicilian life.
Leonardo Sciascia
Italian writer of novels, short stories, nonfiction, and drama
- Born: January 8, 1921
- Birthplace: Racalmuto, Sicily, Italy
- Died: November 20, 1989
- Place of death: Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Biography
Leonardo Sciascia (SHAH-shah) was born in Racalmuto, Sicily, on January 8, 1921. He lived much of his life in Sicily, where, before his success as a novelist and public figure in the 1960s, he was a teacher. More than any other Italian author of the late twentieth century, Sciascia occupied himself with the problems of Sicilian society. His grim chronicles of the Mafia’s infestation of Sicily, including the political corruption of Sicilian government, present a grimly realistic picture of life on the island.
Sciascia was educated in the Istituto Magistrale in Caltanissetta, where he received his teacher’s diploma. From 1949 to 1957, he taught at an elementary school in the same city. In 1957, he moved to Palermo, where he taught until his writing enabled him to live on his literary earnings. He began writing in the neorealist style, chronicling the misery and poverty of the average Italian in the postwar era. His first success, Salt in the Wound, reflects his experiences as a schoolteacher, describing the depressing task of trying to teach tough, unruly twelve-year-old children. It goes on to portray life in the mythical town of Regalpetra. This book foreshadows Sciascia’s later efforts to show that the corruption of society (especially in Sicily) sometimes overwhelms all attempts to reform it. Sciascia’s pessimism, one of his hallmarks, is everywhere present in this early work.
In Mafia Vendetta, Sciascia brings into focus one of Sicily’s major problems: organized crime at a level that pervades all strata of society. By the time this novel appeared, Sciascia was already recognized as one of Italy’s most courageous writers. He had received the Premio Libera Stampa Lugano, the Premio Prato, and the Premio Crotone. Novels such as A Man’s Blessing further developed Sciascia’s societal views, portraying characters who are all, more or less, in bondage to political and criminal corruption. Sciascia condemned the corruption of Sicilian society not only through his writings but also through his political activities as a deputy of the Radical Party at the European Parliament, beginning in 1979. He also wrote books denouncing conditions in Italy, such as The Moro Affair, about the murder of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades. Sciascia’s style is relatively simple, and his novels are brief—seldom more than 150 pages. Rather than outrage, he voiced bitter irony at what he perceived to be the apparently hopeless morass of Sicilian society.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Il giorno della civetta, 1961 (Mafia Vendetta, 1963)
Il consiglio d’Egitto, 1963 (The Council of Egypt, 1966)
Morte dell’inquisitore, 1964 (Death of the Inquisitor, 1969)
A ciascuno il suo, 1966 (A Man’s Blessing, 1968; also known as To Each His Own); Il contesto: Una parodia, 1971 (Equal Danger, 1973)
Il Consiglio d’Egitto, 1973
Todo modo, 1974 (One Way or Another, 1977)
I pugnalatori, 1976
Candido: Ovvero, Un sogno fatto in Sicilia, 1977 (Candido: Or, A Dream Dreamed in Sicily, 1979)
Cronachette, 1985 (novella; Little Chronicles, 1990)
1912 + 1, 1986 (novella; English translation, 1989)
Porte aperte, 1987 (novella; Open Doors, 1991)
Ignoto a me stesso : ritratti di scrittori da Edgar Allan Poe a Jorge Luis Borges, 1987
Il cavaliere e la morte, 1988 (novella; The Knight and Death, 1991)
Una storia semplice, 1989 (novella; A Straightforward Tale, 1991); The Knight and Death, and Other Stories, 1991 (novellas)
Open Doors, and Three Novellas, 1992
Short Fiction:
Favole della dittatura, 1950
Gli zii di Sicilia, 1958 (Sicilian Uncles, 1986)
Morte dell’inquisitore, 1964 (Death of an Inquisitor, and Other Stories, 1990)
Il mare colore del vino, 1973 (with others; The Wine-Dark Sea, 1985)
Il fuoco nel mare : racconti dispersi, 1947–1975, 2010
Drama:
L’onorevole, pb. 1965
Recitazione della controversia liparitana dedicata ad A.D., pb. 1969
Poetry:
La Sicilia, il suo cuore, 1952
Nonfiction:
Il fiore della poesia romanesca, Belli, Pascarella, Trilussa, Dell’Arco, 1952
Pirandello e il Pirandellismo, 1953
Cronache scolastiche: Nuovi argomenti, 1955
Le parrocchie di Regalpetra, 1956 (essays; Salt in the Wound, 1969)
Pirandello e la Sicilia, 1961
Feste religiose in Sicilia, 1965
La corda pazza, 1970
Atti relativi alla morte di Raymond Roussel, 1971
La scomparsa di Majorana, 1975 (The Mystery of Majorana, 1987)
I pugnalatori, 1976
I Siciliani, 1977 (with Dominique Fernandez); L’affaire Moro, 1978 (The Moro Affair, 1987)
Dalle parti degli infedeli, 1979
Nero su nero, 1979
La Sicilia come metafora, 1979 (Sicily as Metaphor, 1994)
Delle cose di Sicilia : testi inediti o rari / a cura di Leonardo Sciascia ; introduzione di Dominique Fernandez, 1980
Conversazione in una stanza Chiusa / Leonardo Sciascia, Davide Lajolo, 1981
Il teatro della memoria, 1981
Kermesse, 1982
La sentenza memorabile, 1982
La palma va a nord, 1982
Cruciverba, 1983
Occhio di capra, 1984
Per un ritratto dello scrittore da giovane, 1985
La strega e il capitano, 1986
Ore di Spagna, 1988 (Ferdinando Scianna, photographer)
Alfabeto pirandelliano, 1989
Fatti diversi di storia letteraria e civile, 1989
Fuoco all’anima : conversazioni con Domenico Porzio, 1992
La mia terra, da Racalmuto alla Sicilia, 1997
Leonardo Sciascia deputato radicale, 1979–1983, 2004 (Lanfranco Palazzolo, editor)
Sud come Europa: carteggio (1954–1960) / Vittorio Bodini, Leonardo Sciascia, 2011 (Fabio Moliterni, editor)
Dalla Noce alla Palmaverde : lettere di utopisti 1953–1972 / Roberto Roversi, Leonardo Sciascia, 2015 (Antonio Motta, editor)
L'invenzione di Regalpetra : carteggio 1955–1988 / Leonardo Sciascia, Vito Laterza, 2016
Edited Texts:
Torre di guardia by Alberto Savinio, 1977
Narratori di Sicilia, 1991 (with Salvatore Guglielmino)
Miscellaneous:
L’onorevole; Recitazione della controversia liparitana; I mafiosi, 1976
Opere, 1987–1996 (3 volumes)
Bibliography
Cannon, JoAnn. “The Detective Fiction of Leonardo Sciascia.” Modern Fiction Studies 29, no. 3 (Autumn, 1983): 523–534. Focuses on this genre within Sciascia’s oeuvre.
Cannon, JoAnn. Postmodern Italian Fiction: The Crisis of Reason in Calvino, Eco, Sciasca, Malerba. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1989. A good comparative study.
Farrell, Joseph. Leonardo Sciascia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995. The first critical study of Sciascia. Farrell examines the man, the writer, and the politician. Treats both his detective fiction and his historical novels.
Jackson, Giovanna. Leonardo Sciascia, 1956-1976: A Thematic and Structural Study. Ravenna, Italy: Longo Editore, 1981. An excellent and comprehensive study of Sciascia’s work.
Jones, Verina. “Leonard Sciascia.” In Writers and Society in Contemporary Italy: A Collection of Essays, edited by Michael Caesar and Peter Hainsworth. Leamington Spa, England: Berg, 1984. A helpful chapter on Sciascia.
“Leonardo Sciascia.” In Dictionary of Italian Literature, edited by Peter Bondanella and Julia Conaway Bondanella. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979. An informative entry.
Montante, Michela. “Leonardo Sciascia: The Writer.” World Literature Today 65 (Winter, 1991). A four-page biographical article.