AtDtDA(28): The Mala Vita

Thu Apr 3 06:57:56 CDT 2008

On today's organized crime in southern Italy see the courageous study by Roberto Saviano:

GOMORRA. Viaggio nell'impero economico e nel sogno di dominio della camorra [2006].

(dtsch. Gomorrha. Reise in das Reich der Camorra. München 2007: Hanser)

More than you ever wanted to know about international crime ...

Kai > Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 15:57:19 -0500> From: against.the.dave at gmail.com> To: pynchon-l at waste.org> Subject: AtDtDA(28): The Mala Vita> > "Somewhere in the unsketched regions of Ca' Spongiatosta, 'You are> a step,' the Princess warned, 'the turn of an eye, the whisper of a> skirt, from the mala vita.'" (AtD, Pt. IV, p. 798)> > > "the mala vita"> > THE "MALA VITA" SOCIETY.; A COUNTERPART OF THE MAFIA IN SOUTHERN ITALY.> From the Milan Illustrazione Italiana.> June 12, 1891, Wednesday> Page 5, 1230 words> > The Camorra of Naples and the Mafia of Sicily exist in Apulia> (Adriatic provinces of Southern Italy) under the name of Mala Vita,> (Evil Life.) It is an organized association, with iron rules. Its> object is theft, robberies, and assassinations....> > http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E00E7DB173AE533A25751C1A9609C94609ED7CF> > Italian: evil life. With more specific reference to Mafia style> criminal organizations like the Malavita del Brenta of Venice. There> is also a genre of songs glorifying Mafia life called canto di> Malavita.> > http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_792-820#Page_798> > > "as if the price of inattention"> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master-slave_dialectic> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master-slave_morality> > > brides picotées> > Main Entry: pic·o·tee> Pronunciation: \ˌpi-kə-ˈtē\> Function: noun> Etymology: French picoté pointed, from picoter to mark with points, from picot> Date: 1727> : a flower (as some carnations or tulips) having one basic color with> a margin of another color> > http://mw4.m-w.com/dictionary/picotees> > Picotee is a variety of flower whose edge is a different colour than> the flower's base colour. The word originates from the French picoté,> meaning 'marked with points'.> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picotee> > Bars ornamented with picots (bobbin lace)> > http://www.laceresources.com.au/reference/glossary.html> > A Venetian lace with a hexagonal pattern. French: tickle straps> > http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_792-820#Page_798> > > "like a reverse glittering across her flesh"> > Cf. ...> > "reflected water-glare flickered across the ceiling" (p. 798)> > "an uninformed observer could not have said which, if either, was in> command" (ibid.)> 
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