Myth lends force to mafia reality rather than reality being plain

Evidence

If credulity on the one hand and disregard on the other are of little help in understanding the mafia, prejudiced disbelief misses the point altogether, which is neither to establish whether symbols and terminology are believable to us (that is, whether they seem plausible to the scholar whose principal activity is not that of selling protection in a rough world) nor to pursue a chimerical distinction between those symbols which are genuine and those which are concocted by overimaginative outsiders. Inferring uni vocally from the “confusion between myth and reality” that reality is far less mythical than is often assumed (see Duggan 1989: 188) is simply not acceptable. In what follows I try to demonstrate that, in some special sense, the opposite obtains, namely, that myth lends force to a reality which would not otherwise be able to manifest itself. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 333

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• XREF: The thesis that myth is constitutive of mafia power connects to the opening analysis of Bonasera’s legal failure — the Godfather’s authority rests partly on brand mythology.

Related

• Scholars apply double standards in dismissing mafia ritual while accepting analogous ones. (similarity 0.81)
• A mafioso’s reputation can rest on myth rather than actual violence. (similarity 0.80)
• Scarcity of trust paradoxically forces people to trust mythologized figures. (similarity 0.80)
• Mafia symbols are mostly imported from outside, not invented by insiders. (similarity 0.79)
• Mafia symbolism is assembled from fiction and folklore, not authentic criminal tradition. (similarity 0.78)
• Scholars resist studying mafia rituals because the topic seems ridiculous. (similarity 0.78)
• Scholars resist ascribing symbolic rituals to criminals out of self-image (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Media audiences require mafia symbols in crime imagery to find it authentic #corroborates (0.78) — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 330