Blood Feud in Sardinia: On the Question of the Vitality of Tradition

Abstract

In this article, continuing the study of criminality in Sardinia, a conservative and archaic region of Italy, I focus on the traditions of the phenomenon of blood feud in Barbagia, the central mountainous region of the island. Until recently the dominant legal behavior of the population in the context of the preservation of many relics of customary law, opposed by the population to the official law, it is still vital today, although in a reduced and often mutated form. In my research, I draw both on the scholarly literature (which considers bloodshed mainly in a legal context) and the results of many years of field work. I attempt to comprehensively reconstruct this phenomenon, highlight its specifics, “technique”, actors, the associated folk moral and ethical ideals, as well as explore the attitudes of the population toward blood feud and reconstruct an emic vision of this institute, thereby shedding light on the reasons for its vitality in the region.