ABSTRACT
This chapter applies the alien conspiracy perspective to the Italian context, using it as a lens through which to explore the representation of one particular mafia. It considers ‘feedback loop' or ‘hall of mirrors' through the lens of cultural memory, exploring processes of remediation in cultural representations of the 'ndrangheta's past. Beyond the marginality of its native region, the historic failure of the Italian state to recognise the scale of the threat posed by the 'ndrangheta is linked inextricably to wider debates and discourses surrounding the mafias in Italy. Anime nere can be interpreted as an attempt to rewrite the history of Calabrian organized crime by offering a new perspective, a demonstration of Neumann's 'imaginative counter discourse'. There is much work still to be done on the relationship between the 'ndrangheta and popular values and traditions in the public imaginary at both regional and national level.
