The “Da Torino Code”: Migrations of a Literary Model and Transformations of an Urban Imagery in the steps of Dan Brown

Abstract

In recent years there has been a curious phenomenon in detective literature: French, English, Spanish and American novelists choose Turin as the background for crime stories. They feel inspired by the enigmatic, disturbing connotations of an “esoteric city” hosting the Holy Shroud that so far has been explored and exploited only by local or Italian writers. The article will examine a corpus of detective novels by different authors, all attesting the migration and adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, considered as a model providing narrative and fictional structures, as well as actantial dynamics moved to a context where the mystery of the Holy Grail is replaced by the enigma of the Holy Shroud. The article will also investigate how this best-seller has been redesigned within novels that exemplify the hybrid character of contemporary crime fiction, assessing the impact that these new pathways in crime fiction have on the image of Turin.