Turning State’s Evidence: the Place of pentitismo in Italian Culture between Law, Fiction and Testimony.
In
the fight against organized crime, a crucial and yet conflicted role
has been played by those who collaborate with the justice system by
providing “valuable” information in exchange for protection or lighter
sentences. These collaborators in Italy are called pentiti—literally “those who repent.” In the economy of Italian culture, the ambiguity of the term pentito
represents an extremely fertile entry point into an examination of a
fundamentally religious concept as it is brought into a secular sphere.
Following from this, in this panel we seek to explore the meaning that
conversion and repentance acquire when applied to jurisprudence,
focusing especially on the controversial epistemology of testimony
provided by convicts or crime perpetrators. This question becomes
particularly compelling when those who have turned state’s evidence have
done so through negotiations with the State; a model opened in the mid
1980s by members of the Red Brigades who provided the authorities with
information to dismantle the terrorist group, and most famously applied
in the “Maxi Trial” against mafia (1986-1992).
With these reflections in mind, we welcome papers addressing (but not limited to) these topics:
- The figure of the pentito
in Italy’s juridical history, as well as in literary and folkloristic
representations (i.e.: the diffusion of terms such as infami,
impunitari, impuniti, ravveduti, trugliati, ecc.).
- Famous trials in which the pentiti
have marked their appearance as protagonists of the media and judicial
spheres: Gennaro Cuocolo’s, Enzo Tortora’s and Giulio Andreotti’s cases
are among possible examples of this phenomenon.
- The role of the pentiti
in mafia and anti-mafia cultures (with the possibility to open the
discussion to realities other than Italy), with a particular focus on an
anthropological/religious interpretative key.
- The power and the credibility of pentiti’s statements: who enables them to speak? Under what circumstances? With what agenda? How is their reliability constructed?
- New forms of pentitismo, beginning with Patrizio Peci and the Brigate Rosse case.
- Pentiti as subjects of fictional narratives: literature, cinema and Tv.
- Pentiti as witnesses and the epistemological status of their testimony from both a juridical and a narrative point of view.
Please send a short bio and a 250-300 words abstract (either in Italian or in English) by January, 5 to: