Responsible Testimony: The Memory of Fascism in Carlo Lucarelli’s Inspector De Luca Series (1990-2020) Between Complicity and Implication

This article examines the memory of Fascism in Carlo Lucarelli’s Inspector De Luca series (1990–2020), exploring how these popular crime fiction novels address themes of complicity and implication. By tracing the ethical dilemmas and evolving self-awareness of De Luca—a detective navigating Italy’s transition from dictatorship to democracy—the series provides a compelling reflection on the dynamics of complicity and personal involvement in Fascist violence. Through detailed literary analysis, the article demonstrates how Lucarelli’s works resist uncritical or redemptive narratives by foregrounding the protagonist’s shared responsibility for Fascist crimes and his entanglement in structural violence. Drawing on theories of complicity, implication, and perpetrator testimony, it argues that the series performs an act of ‘responsible testimony’, challenging dominant mnemonic frameworks in Italian culture that have historically minimised complicity. The study underscores the value of contemporary literary fiction in reshaping Italian cultural memory by foregrounding complicit voices that compel readers to confront uncomfortable ethical questions about the interplay between individual agency and systemic oppression.