Libecciu of Longing

The image of the Libecciu – the equivalent in Corsica of the more famous Mistral in southern France – has long been portrayed in earlier classic novels about Corsica as a symbol of the island’s violence. In Prosper Mérimée’s famous novel Colomba1, and his brutal short story Mateo Falcone2, for example, the Libecciu is seen as a metaphor for pent-up resentment and vengeance leading to vendettas and perpetuating conflicts. In the mid-20th century, iconic Corsican writers, such as Marie Susini, would write about the wind in terms of pent-up repression of emotions and the unfulfilled desires of her characters imprisoned by their village lives. Does the wind fulfill a similar function in contemporary Corsican literature as well?