Sveva Peluso, The young hit men’s holocaust. The paradox of adolescence in Columbia

The following essay suggests a pedagogical interpretation of adolescent hit men’s life working in organised crime, using the main characters of the novel by the Columbian author Fernando Vallejo, La Virgen de los sicarios, as a pretext. Starting from the analysis of the present as suggested by Benasayag, Del Rey, Schmit e Žižek, the hit man, belonging to degraded urban environments, is represented as a victim and executioner at the same time. This feature, moreover, seems to apply to specific socio-cultural contexts, as it is shown in the latest Roberto Saviano’s novel, La paranza dei bambini (2016).

Keywords: adolescents in Columbia; crime; Fernando Vallejo

Published on: Closeness and distancesN. 27 New Series – Year XIV 2018