Simboli e processi di costruzione simbolica. La “Terra dei Fuochi” in Campania

Abstract

In the anthropological sciences, research on symbols is a relevant and well recognizable field of study. In most cases, symbolism has been analyzed above all in the magical-religious sphere. In the present study we propose an analysis of the symbolic construction processes in the secular field. Starting from environmental problems present in a region of Southern Italy, Campania, the article proposes a morphological and semantic analysis of waste fires. Considered as dead objects, domestic and industrial waste preserve a series of properties that generate social phenomena of risk and disease. By consulting digital, literary, iconographic sources, etc. the study offers an interpretation of symbols as factors of cultural destabilization and identity.

Keywords

• symbol, symbolization, symbolic anthropology. waste and environmental disasters