Calvino’s Ecological Clairvoyance: A Question of Communication

Presented by prof. Monica Seger

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Italo Calvino (1923-1985), the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with the Department of Modern Languages, Italian Program, at DePaul University, presents “Italo Calvino’s Universe” a series of lectures on literature, ecology, arts and ethics, that will explore exemplary and less known themes, from the vast body of work of the italian author, between fantastic elements and historical issues.

Throughout his vast oeuvre, Italo Calvino depicts both a natural world fundamentally changed by human action and the struggle of human protagonists to accept that change. While decrying industrial pollution, unregulated building and increasing reliance on toxic substances, he simultaneously celebrates the persistent agency and adaptability of nonhuman nature and models the importance of acknowledging environmental change -- of clear communication. This is especially true in his writing from the 1950s and 1960s, the period of Italy’s post-war industrial expansion and economic boom. In texts like La formica argentina (1952), La nuvola di smog (1958) and Marcovaldo ovvero Le stagioni in città (1963), the author describes the full emergence of our current geological era now known as the Anthropocene, while anticipating questions still very relevant today regarding industrial emissions, nonhuman-human relations, and narrative communication. Beginning with a reading of these texts, and focusing in particular on La nuvola di smog, the talk will consider what Monica Seger calls Calvino’s ecological clairvoyance in the context of more recent Italian stories of real-life environmental change, disaster and resilience. 

The presentation will be moderated by Caterina Mongiat Farina, Associate Professor and Director of the Department of Modern Languages, Italian Program, at DePaul University. 

Free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Doors open at 5:30pm CT and seats are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis, until capacity is reached.

This program is part of The Week of Italian Language in the World, a yearly worldwide celebration of the Italian language and creativity. This initiative was born in 2001 in cooperation with the Accademia della Crusca. It is organized during the third week of October by the Embassies, Consulates, and Italian Cultural Institutes, with the support of the Ministry of Culture (MiC), the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), the Government of Switzerland and all of the main partners for the promotion of the Italian language.