Characterising the Anthropocene: Ecological Degradation in Italian Twenty-First Century Literary Writing
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Characterising the Anthropocene: Ecological Degradation in Italian Twenty-First Century Literary Writing by Alessandro Macilenti A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Italian Literature. Victoria University of Wellington 2015 Abstract The twenty-first century has witnessed the exacerbation of ecological issues that began to manifest themselves in the mid-twentieth century. It has become increasingly clear that the current environmental crisis poses an unprecedented existential threat to civilization as well as to Homo sapiens itself. Whereas the physical and social sciences have been defining the now inevitable transition to a different (and more inhospitable) Earth, the humanities have yet to assert their role as a transformative force within the context of global environmental change. Turning abstract issues into narrative form, literary writing can increase awareness of environmental issues as well as have a deep emotive influence on its readership. To showcase this type of writing as well as the methodological frameworks that best highlights the social and ethical relevance of such texts alongside their literary value, I have selected the following twenty-first century Italian literary works: Roberto Saviano’s Gomorra, Kai Zen’s Delta blues, Wu Ming’s Previsioni del tempo, Simona Vinci’s Rovina, Giancarlo di Cataldo’s Fuoco!, Laura Pugno’s Sirene, and Alessandra Montrucchio’s E poi la sete, all published between 2006 and 2011. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate how these works offer an invaluable opportunity to communicate meaningfully and accessibly the discomforting truths of global environmental change, including ecomafia, waste trafficking, illegal building, arson, ozone depletion, global warming and the dysfunctional relationship between humanity and the biosphere. ii Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 A Scientific Foundation for Environmentalism . .3 1.2 The Response So Far: Swimming Against the Tide . .6 1.3 A Brief History of Italian Environmental Activism . 12 1.4 Environmental Literature in Italy . 17 2 Methodology 27 2.1 Exploring the Field . 27 2.2 Rationale for the Selection of Works . 28 2.3 Literature Review . 30 2.3.1 Cognitive Literary Theory . 30 2.3.2 Ecocriticism . 34 2.4 Theoretical Approach . 46 2.4.1 The Premises of Cultural Hacking . 47 2.4.2 The Tasks of Mourning . 52 2.4.3 Opening New Perspectives . 60 2.4.4 Moulding Moral Paradigms . 67 2.5 Conclusion . 70 3 Locality 1: Chemical Pollution 73 3.1 A Toxic Tour through “La terra dei fuochi” . 80 3.1.1 The Mechanisms of Gomorra . 82 3.1.2 Saviano’s Narrative Strategies . 90 iii iv CONTENTS 3.2 Violent Metaphors: Delta blues ...................... 99 3.2.1 A Delta of Intersecting Texts . 102 3.2.2 Fast and Slow Violence . 109 3.2.3 Zen Archery . 127 3.3 Previsioni del tempo ............................ 130 3.3.1 Criminal Midas . 134 3.3.2 A Landscape of the Mind . 146 3.4 Conclusion . 153 4 Locality 2: Changes in Land Use 155 4.1 A Look at Our Changing Landscapes . 155 4.1.1 Narrating Land Use Change in the Twentieth Century . 160 4.1.2 The Foundations of Criminal Wealth . 163 4.2 A Story of Places and People: Rovina .................. 166 4.2.1 The Structure of Ruin . 169 4.2.2 A Landscape of Denial . 173 4.3 Wild Passions and Wildfires: Fuoco! ................... 181 4.3.1 A Burning Issue: Wildfires in Italy . 183 4.3.2 Teenage Treehuggers and Adult Dolts . 187 4.4 Bloodied Cement Handprints: Gomorra ................ 195 4.4.1 The System . 196 4.4.2 The Materiality of Cement . 204 4.5 Conclusion . 213 5 Translocality 217 5.1 Transcending Political Frames . 218 5.2 Uncanny Hyperobjects: Sirene ...................... 220 5.2.1 Imagining an Uncannily Imminent Future . 221 5.2.2 Black Gods: Sirene’s Hyperobjects . 234 5.3 A Climate of Fear: E poi la sete ...................... 244 5.3.1 Literary Writing: The How and the Why . 245 5.3.2 Envisioning Hyperobjects: Climate Fiction . 247 CONTENTS v 5.4 Conclusion . 257 6 Conclusions 259 6.1 Reviewing Premises and Findings . 259 6.2 Looking Forward: Future Directions . 261 Appendix A Intervista a Jadel Andreetto, Kai Zen 267 Appendix B Intervista a Laura Pugno 275 Appendix C Intervista a Wu Ming 2 285 vi CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction The Anthropocene defines the period when human activities begin to dramatically affect planetary processes: changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere, increasing the acidity of the oceans, eroding the stratospheric ozone layer, dispersing radioactive isotopes and polymers whose life is measured in aeons and triggering a mass extinction event, wiping out uncountable species from the face of the Earth, forever. The accelerated transformation of Earth’s biophysical conditions poses an existential danger to life as we know it, and threatens to plunge humanity into an era where survival, let alone any form of civilisation, becomes an untenable proposition for billions. However, a deafening silence prevents a meaningful discussion about this topic on most public platforms: mass media, academia, politics. This has been true for a long time: the conservationist Aldo Leopold remarked that, One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise (165). 1 2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION On the one hand, I claim Leopold’s world of wounds for myself. A basic understanding of ecology and anthropology makes me aware that our unprecedented evolutionary success is rapidly changing the biophysical conditions upon which life as we know it relies upon. No day passes when I am not exposed to a litany of woe from the natural world: the oceans turning into seashell-dissolving soups of micro-plastics; birds, turtles and fish agonising in the oily sludge that has covered their home waters; the mangled bodies of whales, rhinos and elephants; the burning of the rainforests; the deadened buzz of poisoned bees; and, worst of all, the ideologues’ cynical doublespeak. However, unlike others, I have no shell of scientific countenance that I can harden. Far from being a curse, this sensitivity has been a blessing in disguise that prevents me from falling into a deluded positivist cynicism and highlights the marks of death in today’s decadent celebration of humanity’s power as well as the widespread denial of Earth’s physical limits. Given my training as a Humanist and as an educator, I have endeavoured to understand what might be my personal contribution towards an heightened awareness of the dramatic state in which humanity finds itself. The Physical and Social Sciences have found definite roles in investigating the implications of such epochal transformation, but the Humanities have been slow in characterising their raison d’être in the Anthropocene. An ill-judged belief that the Humanities can ignore the non-human realm prevents some humanists from accepting that a modern understanding of ecology has turned the modernist world-view upside down, highlighting the arbitrariness of the assumptions that construct our identities. It is partly understandable: our vanity hurts when we hear that we are not as important, as unique, or as ethereal as we thought. But, more than vanity, mere inertia determines the current state of affairs: it takes a lot of effort to uproot outdated thinking. This thesis is a humble but determined effort to understand whether the Humanities are as ineffective as some humanists believe. In it, I ask a simple question: is the role of literary writing limited to that of a cynical observer of the unfolding ecological catastrophe or can it play an active part in human survival? 1.1. A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR ENVIRONMENTALISM 3 Environmentally-minded activists, scientists and intellectuals who seek to understand the global environmental crisis from different points of view are experimenting with new and more effective ways to inform the public about the dangers of a business-as-usual environmental policy. However, their message has to adapt quickly both to new scientific findings and to the attacks of those who find it convenient to minimise or deny these obvious urgencies. The aim of this work is to explore twenty-first century Italian literary responses to the ecological crisis, focusing on works that depict radically degraded environments. In doing so, it endeavours to understand how relevant these works are to the aims and challenges of environmentalism. Moreover, this research investigates what might be the social function of such literature. How do authors use language in order to communicate environmental degradation to the Italian public and how do they attempt to engender a heightened environmental awareness in their readership? How do they stimulate debate and, potentially, encourage direct citizen action against the abuses, while avoiding on the one hand the pitfalls of an exceedingly detached scientism, and on the other hand the misrepresentations of ideology? Finally, my research tries to determine whether twenty-first century Italian environmental literature might play a role in revising of the cultural frames that have contributed to global environmental change. 1.1 A Scientific Foundation for Environmentalism Science warns that humanity is depleting the resources it depends on faster than they can replenish themselves. Rockström et al.’s important study attempts to define physical boundaries that should be observed to preserve a “safe operating space for humanity” (472). Rockström et al.