Vita e "morte delle morti": environmental reading, Zanzotto, Venezia, Marghera

Corrado Confalonieri

2026-01-01

---

Abstract

The article aims to discuss some interpretative consequences of the reading methodology recently referred to as ‘environmental reading’. After a brief reconstruction of how the reading of literary texts has shifted and has been proposed to adapt in light of climate change within the context of the Environmental Humanities, the essay focuses on the case of Andrea Zanzotto’s writings in poetry and prose on Venice and Marghera and shows how an ‘environmental’ reading risks simplifying their intrinsic ambiguity in favor of a message that sounds as univocal as possible. In contrast to these readings, Zanzotto’s texts on Venice and Marghera are read through the lens of other authors whose poetry was inspired by Zanzotto (i.e., Italo Testa and Francesco Targhetta), showing how the ambiguous nature of texts, rather than the univocal message one might detect, allows literature to effectively address the importance of the environment as a theme today.