Carcere, popolo e punizione nella šanson russa e nei neomelodici napoletani

Abstract

The song genre known in Russia as Shanson, a popular genre inspired by the traditional criminal folklore, and the Neapolitan “Neo-melodic” song, often referring in its lyrics to the criminal underworld, strike with similarities. While in Italy this connection becomes a stigma, however, in Russia the situation is more complex – a consequence of the experience of the great purges, when intellectuals met criminals in the camps. A possible explanation of the striking popularity of criminal songs both in Russia and in Southern Italy can be found in Michel Foucault’s work on the transition from the punitive system to the disciplinary one, when criminal biographies (often taking the form of ballads) disappeared: this would mean that the described societies live now in pre-modern forms – or should we consider them post-modern?