FUMETTI, PIETRE ARRUGGINITE E CUORI RESILIENTI. PRATICHE DI RI-SIGNIFICAZIONE DELLE NOTTI ROMANE DI PERIFERIA NELLA “NONA ARTE”

Abstract

Comics, rusty stones and resilient hearts. Graphic novels and practices of spatial re-significance in roman peripheries at night. – This paper is the first result of a wider research project dedicated to the depiction of peripherical and marginal areas in comic books and graphic novels. As such, the contribution is consistent with the perspective of critical geopolitics and focused on the analysis of three graphic novels that, beyond their stylistic and narratives differences, are all set in the same “chronotope”: the Roman periphery at night. Thus, the paper draws from night-studies, socio-geographical theo-ries of space-production, and previous literature dedicated to comics geography. The three works are then presented as divergent narratives that stands against the negative depiction of periphery in mainstream media and their demonization of alternative and conflictual social practices, such as rave parties, graffiti, and house squatting.