Geographies of the Present: Spaces and Places of the Anthropocene in Italy

The Introduction provides an overview of the theoretical framework and scholarly discussions relevant to the content of this special issue. In the first part, it discusses the uses of the term Anthropocene in scientific contexts and in the humanities, clarifying the ways in which it has been used by the authors. It then explores how this term has been relevant for approaches developed at the crossroad of Italian Studies, ecocriticism, and the environmental humanities, mapping previous contributions that inform the articles included in the special issue. The following section overviews the articles and concludes by reflecting on the most significant issues that emerge from them. These points concern the role that literature can play in the understanding of nature and culture as reciprocally connected and the creation of synergies between cognitive endeavours, creative experiments, and concrete actions in individual and collective forms of environmental engagement.