Chapter 11 - “Fossilized Presents”. The Photo-Textual Nostos in Sicily from Elio Vittorini to Giorgio Vasta

Analyzing Giorgio Vasta’s Spaesamento (2010) and Palermo. Un’autobiografia nella luce (2022), alongside Elio Vittorini’s Conversazione in Sicilia, illustrated with pho- tographs by Luigi Crocenzi (1953), this chapter explores the theme of nostos,  or return, highlighting the contrast between the seemingly static nature of the South and the ostensibly dynamic character of the North. The analysis cen- ters on two key concepts: the backward movement toward an insular space, in this case Sicily, and the complex relationship between human and non-human entities, illustrated, on one hand, by the reification of human figures and, on the other, by the “eloquence” of material bodies, both natural and artificial, such as animals and objects, namely technofossils. Examining not only thematic elements but also the formal strategies that represent them, particularly the use of photography and photo-textual composition, this study shows how both au- thors employ Southern Italy as a synecdoche, representing broader ecological, political, and cultural tensions. Through ecocritical and geocritical perspectives, Sicily emerges as both a representative part of Italy and of a Global South, challenging conventional North-South binaries and offering a redefinition of Southern identity.