Between the Need to Believe and the Crisis of Credibility: the Fine Line Connecting ‘True’ and ‘Sacred’ in Leonardo Sciascia’s Work
by Fiorenza Manzo
This paper argues for the possibility of identifying a unifying thread in the work of Leonardo Sciascia by analyzing three of his major writings: Todo modo (1974), La scomparsa di Majorana (1975), and Candido (1977). This analysis brings to light a latent tension in Sciascia’s work, rooted in his clear recognition of an antinomy: the conflict between a profound need for truth and authenticity in social relations and the persistent shadow of incredibility that appears to mirror and haunt the truth. Furthermore – as this analysis seeks to demonstrate – this yearning for authenticity is intimately bound up with a latent drive toward re-sacralization: a renewed quest to re-invest the sacred with meaning, following the linguistic and symbolic dismantling it had undergone, especially in the wake of the “scandal” of the Shoah.
INTERNO POI - 1-2024_finale-146-159