Nature – more particularly wilderness – often takes on a salvific role in modern consciousness. In view of the malaises caused by the acceleration, discipline, and complexity of modern sociality, the natural world appears to many today as an oasis of simplicity and peace. This nostalgia, however, is not an immediate desire. Rather, it is the product of an internalization of nature realized in the privacy of a room whose essentiality resonates with the consoling candor of natural environment. In this essay, such interpretative framework is tested against Mario Rigoni Stern’s writings and the role played by nature in them as an agency of «counter-terror». The major question I focus on at the end of the essay is whether this semiosis of nature is tantamount to a betrayal of it or not.
A Room of Nature’s Own: Mario Rigoni Stern’s Household between Mind and Meadow
Costa P.
2023-01-01
Abstract
Nature – more particularly wilderness – often takes on a salvific role in modern consciousness. In view of the malaises caused by the acceleration, discipline, and complexity of modern sociality, the natural world appears to many today as an oasis of simplicity and peace. This nostalgia, however, is not an immediate desire. Rather, it is the product of an internalization of nature realized in the privacy of a room whose essentiality resonates with the consoling candor of natural environment. In this essay, such interpretative framework is tested against Mario Rigoni Stern’s writings and the role played by nature in them as an agency of «counter-terror». The major question I focus on at the end of the essay is whether this semiosis of nature is tantamount to a betrayal of it or not.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
