Literature as a Socio-Spatial Diagnosis Tool. Reporting the Dominant Emotions of the Città Diffusa of the Italian North-East Through Novels and Testimonies

Abstract

This paper argues on the use of narration (written and oral) as a socio-spatial diagnosis tool for urban studies. Throughout the use of literary work and the authors’ oral testimonies, we can deepen our knowledge on the dynamics of urban space and how this space is being related to the individual. In order to understand these dynamics, we need “bottom – up” tools for the interpretation of the urban space, that are born from inside the society itself. In order to respond to the needs of a particular society in urban planning, we need to know as much as possible about this society, and the authors inside of it, can reveal many of its hidden dimensions. The paper continues in reporting some of the results of a research done in the Italian North-East Region with the collaboration of four contemporary Italian authors of the Region. Through their novels and personal testimonies, we tried to understand what are the dominant emotions of an individual living in these territories, in relation to the space of the diffused city but also in relation to the local society. A particular mention to the emotion of fear is being reported entirely from the research.