Writing this book has been like undertaking a long journey. As every seasoned walker knows, to ignore the voices of those one meets along the way is to risk losing one’s bearings. Personally, I have listened to many voices, both in the long period of preparation and throughout the writing process. I have been able to rely on the example of others’ journeys, as well as on the generosity of many who have been willing to discuss, deepen, and debate various aspects of my work.
First and foremost, I wish to thank those who made my visiting stay in Peru possible. In Lima, I was hosted by Professor Víctor Krebs, who believed in this project and welcomed me into his remarkable seminar classes at PUCP—Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú–dedicated to the concept of image in Wittgenstein. His colleagues in Lima extended their own hospitality, each contributing something meaningful to my experience. The philosopher Kathia Hanza invited me to give guest lectures in her undergraduate philosophy course and was a warm and supportive presence throughout my stay. The architect Paulo Dam accompanied me to the MALI—Museo de Arte de Lima–guiding me especially through the permanent exhibition dedicated to the Andean world and offering interpretive insights before the visit. I am also deeply grateful to the geographer Ricardo Bohl, who generously accompanied me around Lima, revealing parts of the city central to its historical identity but often overlooked by European visitors: Pueblo Libre, the old city centre, Lince, Jesús María, the remarkable Barrio Chino; farther north along the Rimac River; and farther south as far as Pachacamac. Thanks to Ricardo, I came to understand that the most pressing issue in Lima—and in Peru—is not security per se, but the inequality that produces insecurity. This is something worth remembering always, especially in the increasingly complex neighbourhoods of European cities. I also warmly thank my long-time friend and colleague, Professor Carlo Vittorio Giabardo, and the ever-present Carla Tarifa, with whom I spent many delightful limeñe nights talking about everything, but above all, about Carlo’s dear Peru, which I came to understand a little better, thanks to him.
Whenever I think back to my days between Huancavelica and Lircay, my mind fills with faces, gestures, and unforgettable emotions. I must first thank José Armando Guevara, Rector of the Universidad para el Desarrollo Andino, and Jorge Olaechea, one of the university’s founders and a recent PhD graduate with a dissertation on Paul Ricoeur. Our shared passion for philosophical hermeneutics undoubtedly left a mark on this book. It was Jorge who helped me build an extensive library of interdisciplinary sources, many of which are
I would like to thank the colleagues who, over the years, have walked ahead of me and helped clear the path. First of all, those working on landscape and spatial issues within the field of contemporary Italian aesthetics. I am particularly grateful to Paolo D’Angelo, whose contributions to the study of landscape have been decisive for me. I also thank Tonino Griffero, whose theory of atmospheres has made possible a realist turn in phenomenology that I could not address in this book. My gratitude goes as well to Elisabetta Di Stefano and Salvatore Tedesco for their focus on the aesthetics of nature and everyday life, and to Rita Messori, whose phenomenological approach to the question of landscape has been deeply inspiring. I also thank Mariagrazia Portera, whom I had already been reading for some years before we met, always struck by the rigorous clarity of her argumentation and the genuine passion that runs through her work. I am grateful to Alberto Siani for his willingness to share
I must also acknowledge the school of aesthetics in Turin, where I was intellectually formed and to which I continue to contribute. The insights of Federico Vercellone on morphology are present throughout this book. So too are the reflections on aesthetic habits and improvisation developed by Alessandro Bertinetto, whose renewed and contemporary reading of Luigi Pareyson remains an ongoing source of inspiration. I am also indebted to Alberto Martinengo, whose work has sharpened my understanding of image theory and its relation to metaphor, as well as shaped my approach to hermeneutics, particularly in relation to Paul Ricoeur. I thank both Alessandro Bertinetto and Alberto Martinengo for the shared experience of founding the Centro Studi ART—Aesthetics Research Torino. Over the past year, this centre has offered countless opportunities for discussion and exchange with philosophers, thinkers, and authors from a wide range of backgrounds and generations.
I cannot overlook the influence of scholars from other disciplines who have shaped my thinking in significant ways. I thank film historian Silvio Alovisio for giving me the opportunity to explore the relationship between landscape and media, a theme that is virtually omnipresent in this book. I also thank geographers Cristiano Giorda and Marcello Tanca, who have helped me deepen my understanding of geography, a subject that has fascinated me since primary school. It is thanks to stable collaborations with these scholars, working across philosophy, media theory, and geography, that I was able to infuse this book with many insights that only a genuinely interdisciplinary practice can generate. Among my international colleagues, I would like to acknowledge at least my doctoral supervisor, Johann Michel, whose work at the crossroads of hermeneutics and social critique continues to nourish my thinking. I also thank Jaroslava Vydrova, a phenomenologist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, whose support at key moments proved essential for the development of meaningful exchanges and collaborative projects.
I would also like to thank the colleagues of my generation who have walked alongside me over the years. Each of them, while pursuing their own path, has never lost the joy of engaging in dialogue, debate, and intellectual exploration. I think of Gregorio Tenti and his deep and important work on the Sixth Extinction. I think of Maria Cristina Vendra, with whom I share an enduring connection to Ricoeurian studies. I think of Elena Romagnoli, whose efforts to renew hermeneutics have much in common with my own. I also think of Serena Massimo and her valuable explorations of performativity, and Luisa Sampugnaro and her brilliant work on Ernesto De Martino’s anthropology. I am grateful to researchers like Lisa Giombini and Marta Benenti, among the first
My final thanks go to those outside the academic world who have chosen to walk parts of this journey with me, listening to my ramblings, sometimes indulging them, always offering new perspectives. Without Matteo, Riccardo, Daniele, Matteo, Alessio, Francesco, Emanuele, Rita, Andrea, Elisa, Greta, Xavier; without my sister Melania, my mother Daniela, my father Gino, and my life partner Samuele, I might still have written this book—but it would have lacked part of its passion and energy. In truth, I could not have written it at all.