Abstract
In this paper, websites promoting a nature reserve on the South Eastern coast of Sicily, Priolo Saltpans, are analysed from an ecolinguistic and narrative perspective. The heuristic device of proximisation is used, connecting it to more traditional concepts of temporal-spatial deixis. More specifically, the paper investigates narratives of contact between the modernist discourse of industrial development and emergent, eco-friendly discourses. In the descriptions and narratives of these sites, the area is represented as caught between a semi-mythical past and industrial/post-industrial futures, between the complexities of human social organisation and the apparent simplicity of the natural world. From a multimodal angle, and a perspective that gives a rich account of context, the paper deals with contemporary themes familiar to the Anthropocenic discourse such as loss of bio-diversity, pollution and industrial damage, as well as possible pathways to ecological recovery and environmental protection.
About the author
Douglas Mark Ponton is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania. His research interests include political discourse analysis, ecolinguistics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and pragmatics. His research deals with a variety of social topics, including politics, tourism, ecology, local dialect and folk traditions such as proverbs and Blues music. Recent publications include Understanding Political Persuasion: Linguistic and Rhetorical Aspects (2019, Vernon Press), and Persuasion strategies in media discourse about Russia (2019, Lodz Papers in Pragmatics).
Appendix A: LIPU site, original Italian text
| Prima dell’impianto del polo industriale Siracusa-Priolo Gargallo, la salina e l’habitat costiero a dune erano estesi per diversi chilometri. La bellezza e il fascino di questi luoghi vengono decantati, tra gli altri, anche da Virgilio, Ovidio, Tucidide e da Stefano di Bisanzio. Oggi la Riserva Naturale orientata “Saline di Priolo” salvaguarda l’ultimo lembo di un’ampia zona umida che occupava un ampio tratto di costa tra Priolo e Marina di Melilli (SR). Nell’area sono state censite 216 specie di uccelli, ossia circa il 40% di tutte quelle osservate ad oggi in Italia. |
| A poche centinai di metri dalla Riserva si trova la Penisola Magnisi, naturale estensione e completamento della stessa. Quest’area è di inestimabile valore archeologico e naturalistico. L’intera zona è costellata infatti dalle testimonianze della civiltà preistorica e protostorica (XV-IX a.C.) di Thapsos: necropoli a grotticelle, e fondamenta delle abitazioni del primo villaggio organizzato conosciuto in Sicilia. Sotto il profilo naturalistico, l’area conserva un habitat steppico che ospita una popolazione nidificante di Calandra e Calandrella con densità raramente riscontrate in Europa; inoltre, il raro Occhione ha qui la popolazione nidificante conosciuta più importante della Sicilia. In primavera la penisola è luogo di sosta vitale per migliaia di passeriformi migratori tra cui il rarissimo Culbianco isabellino e la Monachella. Da sfondo alla riserva, in lontananza, si fa ammirare il bellissimo bastione montuoso del Monte Climiti, luogo che racchiude condensata in se tutta la bellezza, il mistero e la natura degli Iblei, montagne ricche di storia e natura. A pochi chilometri la splendida città di Siracusa, ricca di arte e archeologia |
Appendix B: Guida Sicilia
| La Riserva Naturale Saline di Priolo ricade nel territorio del comune di Priolo Gargallo e tutela un’area di circa 55 ettari, proprio al centro di uno dei più vasti poli petrolchimici europei. E’ quindi un’oasi sorta tra le ciminiere, quasi a simboleggiare la rinascita di un territorio pesantemente trasformato da interventi umani e il suo bisogno di riqualificazione ambientale |
| Un tempo, prima della nascita dell’impianto industriale la salina e l’habitat costiero a dune si estendevano per diversi chilometri, tra Priolo e Marina di Melilli, e la loro bellezza e il loro fascino furono cantati dai poeti romani Virgilio e Ovidio, dallo storico e militare ateniese Tucidide e dal geografo bizantino Stefano di Bisanzio. Negli ultimi 10 anni, l’area sta progressivamente ritornando agli antichi splendori e ha trasformato completamente il suo volto da zona industriale ad ’Oasi più bella d’Italia’, riconoscimento arrivato nel 2008 al concorso vota “L’Oasi più Bella d’Italia” della associazione di birdwatching EBN Italia. |
| Nelle Saline di Priolo e Penisola Magnisi difatti, sono state osservate quasi la metà delle specie ornitiche della Sicilia e circa il 40% di quelle osservate in Italia. Un numero enorme, soprattutto se messo in relazione con la limitata estenzione dell’area e la localizzazione nel cuore dell’area industriale. Recentemente poi, la lieta notizia che l’area è stata interessata dalla nidificazione del fenicottero rosa. Un evento dall’importanza straordinaria – perchè mai avvenuto prima in Sicilia – che ha visto una colonia di circa 220 esemplari insediarsi negli anni scorsi, costruendo 50 nidi e deponendo almeno 41 uova. |
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