‘Dead or a Sight’. An Analysis of “Mano rubata” by Tommaso Landolfi Through the Theories of Caillois and Lacan

The article proposes an investigation on Mano rubata by Tommaso Landolfi, in which the author deals with one of his obsessions: gambling. The story's potentially deadly game will be analyzed at first through Caillois’ category of agon, alea and ilinx, but also from a Lacanian perspective. The point is not to describe Landolfi as a psychoanalytical writer, but to use psychoanalytical theories as tools where text and theory seem to meet on a neutral field. I propose to consider the gaze as a ‘neutral field’, and more specifically the voyeuristic gaze. It will be noticeable how, behind the bet between Gisa and Marcello, the voyeuristic and structural gaze of the big Other can be seen, who would condemn Gisa to be subjected to a structure of power. Facing this scenario, Gisa’s choice of suicide appears as a way to disarm and expose the inner violence of the gaze.