Elemental Narratives

<p>Over the past century the Italian landscape has undergone exceedingly rapid transformations shifting from a mostly rural environment to a decidedly modern world. This changing landscape is endowed with a narrative agency that transforms how we understand our surroundings. Situated at the juncture of Italian studies and ecocriticism and following the recent material turn in the environmental humanities <i>Elemental Narratives</i> outlines an original cultural and environmental map of the <i>bel paese</i>. </p><p>Giving equal weight to readings of fiction nonfiction works of visual art and physical sites Enrico Cesaretti investigates the interconnected stories emerging from both human creativity and the expressive eloquence of glocal materials such as sulfur petroleum marble steel and asbestos that have helped make and simultaneously un-make today's Italy affecting its socio-environmental health in multiple ways. Embracing the idea of a decentralized agency that is shared among human and nonhuman entities Cesaretti suggests that engaging with these entangled discursive and material texts is a sound and revealing ecocritical practice that promises to generate new knowledge and more participatory affective responses to environmental issues both in Italy and elsewhere. Ultimately he argues that complementing quantitative data-based information with insights from fiction and nonfiction the arts and other humanistic disciplines is both desirable and crucial if we want to modify perceptions and attitudes increase our awareness and understanding and in turn develop more sustainable worldviews in the era of the Anthropocene. </p><p>Elegantly written and convincingly argued this book will appeal broadly to scholars and students working in the fields of environmental studies comparative literatures ecocriticism environmental history and Italian studies.</p><p></p>