Odi et amo: Discursive strategies and ambiguity in the narratives of violence

Abstract

Ambiguity plays a central role in how narratives about violence are told, but research has rarely taken into account the ambiguity used by criminals with complex motives. Drawing on narrative criminology, this contribution explores how ambiguity is deployed in the stories of violence publicly told in a television interview by Mario Mariolini, a paraphiliac Italian killer sentenced for homicide. The analysis of the narratives, in tandem with the discursive strategies therein, demonstrates that ambiguity is strategically used for different purposes. As a result, we identify three central narratives, each displaying different ways of making instrumental use of ambiguity. In contrast to the analysis of the ambiguity produced by ordinary criminals, this contribution shows how particular and severe criminal cases are better suited for the study of narratives about violence because of the more complex interplay between the ideological and communicative dimensions.

In nomine Diaboli: The ideologies of organized crime

“…As other contributions point out (Poppi and Verde, 2019; Sandberg et al, 2015), ambiguity and openness make it ‘possible for narrators to explore existential issues without having a clear answer and to continuously adjust evaluations and content’ (Sandberg et al, 2015: 4).…”

“…Unlike other approaches that have examined the role of narratives in criminal contexts, narrative criminology pays considerably more attention to the active role of narratives. Narratives give insight into the nature of not only crimes but also actions and behaviours (Poppi and Verde, 2019;Presser, 2004Presser, , 2009. Narrative criminology has emphasized that all narratives about crime can have consequences in real life.…”

“…Narrative criminology is a theoretical paradigm that aims to study the types, the textual composition and the mechanics of stories about crime and violence (Poppi and Verde, 2019; Presser, 2016; Presser and Sandberg, 2019; Sandberg et al, 2015). Unlike other approaches that have examined the role of narratives in criminal contexts, narrative criminology pays considerably more attention to the active role of narratives.…”

The mourning process and “living with the dead”: Two case reports and a review of the literature

“…This process obviously entails ambiguity, inasmuch as life and death are put on stage together, oxymoronically [32], and represents the complete failure of the process of mourning, in which nostalgia develops; indeed, nostalgia marks the consciousness of a "now" similar to a "then," but inevitably different from that "then," owing to the fact that one is conscious that the beloved is no longer in the world [33].…”