An Econarratological Analysis of Qualcosa, là fuori by Bruno Arpaia
Abstract
This essay offers an econarratological analysis of the climate fiction novel Qualcosa, là fuori (2016). Set in a near future marked by irreversible climate change, the novel depicts a forced migration of Mediterranean populations to Northern Europe to escape desertification and ecological collapse. The novel is narrated through the consciousness of a former university professor.
The econarratological approach highlights how Qualcosa, là fuori functions as both a cognitive and affective device, capable of shaping an embodied ecological awareness by linking narrative imagination to the crisis of the Anthropocene. The novel’s anti-heroic framework deconstructs the conventional tropes of a salvific protagonist and the notion of a definitive resolution of the crisis. It is characterized by a focus on the memorial evocation of what has been lost. Econarratology offers a theoretical framework for analizyng how literary narratives represent, interpret, and transform contemporary ecological experience.
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