Abstract:
This paper examines L’Affaire Moro by Leonardo Sciascia, the pamphlet published in 1978 a few months after the kidnapping and execution of the president of the Christian Democrats, Aldo Moro, by the Red Brigades. It illustrates the relevance of l’Affaire Moro to today’s political and social situation, by examining the literary procedures invented by Sciascia to present his interpretation of that event. Specifically, Sciascia combines political polemics à la Courier, with historical-documentary reconstruction à la Manzoni and the fantastic vein of Jorge Luis Borges, in a new language that attempts to bridge the gap between literature and life. It is in the form of a traditional tragedy that Sciascia conveys the political and ideological impasse, the combination of despair and defiance felt by both Italians and the captive Aldo Moro himself. By instituting such a homology of tragic forms, Sciascia’s pamphlet constitutes a precious lens for those who want to understand the bloody past, as well as the gloomy times in which we live.