Georges Simenon's Realistic Twist and the meaning of Renato Olivieri’s Tribute to Maigret (Or of The Change from Detective Story to Social Thriller)

Sociology of literature is underdeveloped in Italy and western countries in general (except for France). Nevertheless, this discipline suggests interesting reflections on political, social, and moral topics (Laugier 2019; Cavell 1981; Corcuff 2013; Boltanski 2009; Martignani 2018). In this article, we ponder the difference between moral and legal dimension through the change from detective story to social thriller (Sciascia 1954; Oliva 2003). In this direction, this essay is composed of two parts. The first identifies two key moments in the development of a very popular genre: detective fiction. Permeated by the relevance of social phenomena, it acknowledges aspects beyond the detective’s deductions, to consider society as the true protagonist of the storytelling. The second focuses on a fragment allowing for a comparison of the two key moments More specifically, we aim to reflect on a gender gap in sociological research: the change from detective story to social thriller represents the ontological relationship between the law and the crime. This key issue orients the private behaviour with reference to the State. This change represents the critical capacity to transcend the ordinary law through a logic of legitimation of individual actions radically different from those considered by the law.