Storytelling and environmental history : experiences from Germany and Italy

In this experimental volume, researchers from Germany and Italy draw on autobiographical reflection to engage in environmental storytelling. From the translation of historical artifacts to reflections on the role of experience and memory in interpreting landscape change, this collection provides an exciting glimpse into the nature of environmental translation. Working across disciplines at the cutting edge of environmental humanities research, each essay probes the boundaries of its own historical context, questioning the ongoing dynamic between people and our finite planet.-- Introduction, Roberta Biasillo and Claudio de Majo -- Part I Water Histories -- Making Sense of Water: A Personal Quest into the History of Irrigation by Wilko Graf von Hardenberg -- What I Found at the Bottom of a Reservoir by Fabian Zimmer -- The Elbe: Or, How to Make Sense of a River by Sophie Lange -- Places in Translation: Of Rivers and Dams in Central Asia by Flora J. Roberts -- Part II Reading and Writing Landscapes -- Life Among the Giants: Translating Ecology into History through Mountain Studies by Claudio de Majo -- The Most Famous Land|Scape by Noemi Quagliati -- (Under) Grounding Italian Colonialism: Practices of Historical Displacement by Roberta Biasillo -- Sealing the Land: Recognizing Urban Developments in Past and Present Göttingen by Ansgar Schanbacher -- Stubborn Stuff: Translating Rubbish by David-Christopher Assmann -- German-Italian Encounters: A Dialogue on Environment, History, and Politics by Gabriella Corona and Christof Mauc