Observation, Immersion, Production. Images of the Hamlets and Forms of Enhancement in the Italian Inner Areas: the Case of Castelluccio di Norcia

Abstract

The debate on living in Italy’s inner areas during the pandemic underwent an unexpected acceleration, partly due to the unease and congestion felt among the middle-class urban workers, who projected an idyllic and stereotypical vision of inner areas. The term “borgo” itself has started to indicate these aestheticizing visions, where material and territorial realities are romanticized. Through the case study of Castelluccio di Norcia, located in the central Apennines affected by the 2016 and 2017 earthquakes, this article focuses on how hamlets are represented in public discourse. The ethnosemiotic gaze succeeds in articulating different perspectives on the relations between images of the hamlets, forms of valorization, and the underlying axiologies of practices and processes, which significantly impact the transformation of the territory.