Reshaping Wastelands: Contemporary Representations and Accounts from the Venetian Lagoon

This chapter examines how Venice and its lagoon are represented in contemporary literary narratives, often in contrast to the promotional and tourist imagery associated with the city. Using the concept of "wasteland" as a cultural and literary reference, the chapter first examines T. S. Eliot’s depiction of desolate land (1922) in a post-World War context, tracing how it has evolved into a major cultural touchstone, informing subsequent reinterpretations of the term. This includes the documentary "Waste Land" (2010), in which disposable waste is transformed into art both physically and symbolically, exemplifying contemporary understandings of wastelands shaped by environmental crises and Anthropocene dynamics. Drawing on Armiero’s concept of the "Wasteocene" (2021) and other scholarship in the Environmental Humanities, the analysis then turns to contemporary narratives and significant events located in the Venetian lagoon. Two major trends in tourist perception are examined: the pursuit of authenticity, central to the visitor experience, and the fascination with collapse, exemplified by scenarios of Venice sinking underwater, both of which inspire urgency to visit. Through these perspectives, literary representations of the lagoon are read as wastelands – spaces where cultural, ecological, and social dynamics intersect, often absent or distorted in tourist narratives. This chapter ultimately presents Venice not merely as an idyllic or deteriorating site, but as a complex, multifaceted territory, where literature illuminates the city’s ecological fragility, social tensions, and broader challenges for contemporary humanity.