“TRANSLOCAL” NARRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THROUGH GRAPHIC NOVELS: TWO ITALIAN CASE STUDIES
Journal Title: Central European Journal of Geography and Sustainable Development - Year 2021, Vol 3, Issue 1
Abstract
The prevalence of mainstream media as source of information on environmental issues and their tendency to draw global attention around a few major, dramatic environmental disasters (melting of glaciers in the Arctic, desertification and drought in the African continent, deforestation of the Amazon, oil pollution in the oceans, etc.), is creating in less conative readers/audience a lack of awareness of the damages suffered in the local territorial systems to which they belong and low willingness to collective action. Therefore, crossing and comparing the highest possible number of sources of information, preferring those that can generate a proactive response to events and themes concerning environmental sustainability and highlight deep local/global interconnections, is essential to attain an independent, critical, and responsible narration. After shortly illustrating some theoretical and methodological considerations developed in the areas of popular geopolitics, anti-geopolitics and ecocriticism, this paper reviews two Italian graphic novels providing a bottom-up representation of local environmental issues: the first one deals with the eutrophication of the Orbetello Lagoon (Tuscan Maremma); the second one concerns the collapse of the tailings dams of the Prestavèl fluorite mines located in Val di Stava (Trentino Alto Adige), a disaster that caused the death of 268 people. We will try to point out how the authors, who are totally “embedded” in their works, provide a “translocal” narration, condemning effectively and immediately the environmental damages in the territorial context analysed and, at the same time, highlighting the interconnections between such site-specific events and global sustainability, inviting readers to adopt an holistic view of the nature-culture relationship, beyond the anthropocentric and instrumentalist production model which considers biosphere a mere tool to satisfy the contingent needs of contemporary society.
Authors and Affiliations
Antonella Rinella, Federica Epifani
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP697508
- DOI 10.47246/CEJGSD.2021.3.1.1
- Views 119
- Downloads 0
BOOK REVIEW: REPRESENTING PLACE AND TERRITORIAL IDENTITIES IN EUROPE. Discourses, Images and Practices. TIZIANA BANINI, OANA-RAMONA ILOVAN, Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, 2021, 265 pp. ISBN 978-3-030-66765-8
Interdisciplinary bridging place-identity discourses with territorial images and social practices, the current volume tackles a critical approach focusing on Europe and its internal cultural borders as well as the k...
VISUALIZATION OF THE GEOPHYSICAL SETTINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE SEA MARGINS BY MEANS OF GMT AND ISC DATA
The presented research aimed to perform geophysical modelling (gravity and geoid) and to evaluate the spatio-temporal variation of the marine geological data (distribution and depth of earthquakes) using combination of...
PECULIARITIES OF LOCAL ELECTIONS IN PRE-WAR ROMANIA. THE CHRONO-SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF KEY ELECTORAL VARIABLES (1864-1914)
The article analyzes the chrono-spatial distribution of some electoral variables – the turnout, the political preferences of the voters and the political representation in the local councils (county and / or communal)...
EXPLORING UNBALANCED URBAN SPATIAL EXPANSION IN SPRAWLING CITIES. CASE STUDY OF KIMARA MATANGINI, KIBULULU AND DOVYA SETTLEMENTS IN DAR ES SALAAM CITY, TANZANIA
Unbalanced urban expansion characterize urban growth in rapidly urbanizing cities in the global south. This pattern of growth has resulted into difficulties in provision of services which leads to challenges of livabil...
IDENTIFYING SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENT MORTALITY. EVIDENCE FROM THE CITY OF BELGRADE, SERBIA
Traffic accident mortality (TAM) is a significant global problem and part of the sustainable development goals strategy. In Serbia, a decline in the number of deaths in traffic accidents is evident, but in certain time...