Toxic Matters - (Under the Sign of Nature) by Monica Seger (Paperback)

About the Book

"Toxic Matters considers two Italian crises of environment and human health related to dioxin: the 1976 Seveso disaster and the disaster still unfolding in Taranto, long home to the Ilva steelworks. Toxic Matters traces a dialogue between Seveso and Taranto, exploring a common interplay between bodies, soil, industrial emissions, and the wealth of dynamic matter that passes in between. At the same time, it emphasizes the crucial function of storytelling for making sense of this modern-day reality, and for shifting existing power dynamics as exposed communities raise their voices. Grounded in Italian cases and texts, Toxic Matters looks out to pressing questions of toxicity, embodiment, and narrative faced by communities worldwide"--

Book Synopsis

In Toxic Matters, Monica Seger considers two Italian environmental disasters: an isolated factory explosion in Seveso, just north of Milan, in 1976 and the ongoing daily toxic emissions from the Ilva steelworks in the Apulian city of Taranto. Both have exposed residents to high concentrations of the persistent organic pollutant known as dioxin. Although different in terms of geography and temporality, Seveso and Taranto are deeply united by this nearly imperceptible substance, and by the representational complexities it poses. They are also united by creative narrative expressions, in literary, cinematic, and other forms, that push back against dominant contexts and representations perpetuated by state and industrial actors.

Seger traces a dialogue between Seveso and Taranto, exploring an interplay between bodies, soil, industrial emissions, and the wealth of dynamic particulate matter that passes in between. At the same time, she emphasizes the crucial function of narrative expression for making sense of this modern-day reality and for shifting existing power dynamics as exposed communities exercise their voices. While Toxic Matters, is grounded in Italian cases and texts, it looks outward to the pressing questions of toxicity, embodiment, and storytelling faced by communities worldwide.

Review Quotes

In a study both haunting and hopeful, Seger traces environmental histories of dioxin contamination in Seveso and Taranto. Her inventive canon of texts includes the industrial giants ICMESA and Ilva, the cities themselves, a fascinating range of novels and films, a cast of dynamic and inspiring activists, and the evolving landscapes in which all of these figures and stories are enfolded. She unpacks the devious persistence of dioxins in bodies of land and bodies of inhabitants, and then follows stories of resistance, solidarity, and hope in a variety of counter-hegemonic narrative interventions. A beautifully crafted and impactful book.

--Elena Past, Wayne State University, author of Italian Ecocinema: Beyond the Human

Monica Seger guides us through the entangled stories of people, dioxin, and the environment using the embodied narratives of Seveso and Taranto, two highly contaminated places in Italy. A deeply rooted piece of research that speaks to the global 'eco-corporeal crisis' we are all being pulled into. A must-read book to understand the power of storytelling against the oppression of the Wasteocene.

--Marco Armiero, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

About the Author

Monica Seger is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at William and Mary and author of Landscapes in Between: Environmental Change in Modern Italian Literature and Film.