Xylella Fastidiosa and the Non-Landscape of Southern Italy: a European Crisis

Abstract

A bacterium called xylella fastidiosa started to desertify olive trees in Southern Italy, and to date no remedy has beenfound to stop the contagion. The European Union has imposed the eradication of every tree that is positive for thebacterium effectively proposing a desertification of the infected territory without addressing the issue of landscapeprotection. Here, an attempt will be made to explain the irrational gesture of many young rebels and peasants not toapply European decisions by highlighting the essential role that the olive tree plays in the landscape of south Italy,understood both as a landscape horizon and as a psychic horizon within which the citizen forms and recognises himself.The paper provide a critical comparison between the literary image handed down by travellers of the past and thepresent-day image of a landscape that seems to have lost its identity due to building speculation, the plundering ofthe land and a bacterium that has destroyed entire areas.