Eco-criticism and Italo Calvino: A Literature Which Serves the Environment

Abstract

Eco-criticism, a branch of modern literary criticism, nowadays everywhere in the world, from West to East, and in the form of a cultural and moral flow, through literature announces its message as an alarm, a concern for the environment. Among the writers of contemporary Italian Literature, Italo Calvino is the first ecologic story-teller, who beyond his short stories reveals the emergency situation of urban ecosystem. The first character of his stories, condemned to live in industrial cities, is looking at nature disappearing in his smoky hands. The present article, through the content analysis of some of these works, points out to the important role of Literature which serves in the cultivation for preserving the environment and awakening the minds of humen against a serious danger that threatens their lives.