Transcript Key Geography

Representations of the Italian
South
“ An explorer who told lies would bring
disaster on the books of the geographer…
one requires the explorer to furnish
proofs.”
St Exupery, The Little Prince
Research
Research questions:
• How is the South of Italy represented?
• How can we explain this?
• What are the implications?
Methodology:
• Analysis of content, photographs, text and
activities in four textbooks and one Italian
atlas
Texts
• Key Stage 3 Textbooks
• Waugh, D & Bushell, T. (2006) Key Geography: New Interactions.
NelsonThornes
• Hillary, M, Mickelburgh, J & Stanfield, J. (2001) Think Through
Geography 2, Longman
• Bowen, A. and Pallister, J (2005) Geography 360° Core Book 2,
Heinemann Core Book, Heinemann
• Atlas
• (2006) Atlante Geografico di Base de Agostini per la scuola
primaria, Instituto Geografico de Agostini,
Contents: section headings
Key Geography
Think Through Geography
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Climate
Farming
Industry
Tourism
Rural problems
North/south divide
Landscape/climate
Farming
Industry
Core and periphery
Geography 360°
Italian primary school atlas
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Campania; Puglia; Basilicata; Calabria;
Sicily; Sardinia
• The land
• Population
• Agriculture and fishing
• Industry
• Tourism.
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Does Italy have N and S?
(unemployment, income)
Why is the South Poor
Can the gap between N and S be
closed?
Italy as tourist destination (Pompei and
Etna)
Photographs of Settlements
There are 5 photographs of settlements in
the three textbooks
• All show hill villages
Settlement: Text (textbooks)
Key Geography
• ‘Most people still live in hilltop villages in rural areas. The
few towns, which are on the coast…’
• ‘Village lacking modern amenities (label)’
Geography 360°
• ‘More and more settlements are perched on hilltops
surrounded by rocky slopes. Can people make a good
living here?’
• ‘Why don’t more people live on the flatter lowlands?’
• ‘What are the difficulties of living on the top of a hill?’
Agriculture: in textbooks
Key Geography: 1 photograph
• Farmer with sheep on hillside
Think through Geography: 2 photographs
• Hilly area, with caption: Is it being well
farmed?
• Hilly landscape with inset of person
saying, “In the South of Italy many farms
are small and provide just enough food to
feed my family”
Agriculture in textbooks
Geography 360°
• Drawings of landscape in 1950 and 1990
• 1950 - includes labels: outdated farming
methods; low yielding vineyards
• 1990 - labels include: mechanised farming;
irrigation channels; greenhouses growing salad
crops
• Photograph of agricultural landscape in Sardinia
(activity to note features shown in 1990 drawing)
Explanation of agriculture in
textbooks
Key Geography
• High, steep land
• Not enough money for
fertilisers, irrigation
• Summer drought
• Little soil on hills because
of erosion
• Few farmers own land
• Away from urban markets
• Animals used instead of
modern machinery
Think through Geography
• Steep slopes
• Hot dry weather
• Poor thin soils
• Very small farms
• Difficult to use machinery
• Lack of money for
investment
• Poor roads and
communications
Agriculture: textbooks
Key Geography
• Most farms are very small. Farming is at a subsistence level.
• Farming methods are still traditional
• Outdated farming methods
• Disadvantages of farming in the south (title for photograph)
Think Through Geography
• In the South of Italy many farms are small and provide just enough
food to feed my family. People call this subsistence farming
Geography 360°
• Problems experienced by companies in South. The workers are too
tired to work after working on their farms before and after work.
Industry: textbooks
Key Geography
• Only partial success in introducing new industry
Think Through Geography
• Naples is the only large centre of industry in the south
Geography 360°
• Industries never arrived in numbers
• Low output from workers not used to factory work
• Some businesses failed
• Long history of crime and corruption
Activity from Key Geography
You work for the new Cassa per il Mezzogiorno or
Fund of the South organisation. You have been
given the task of seeking funds for the
improvement schemes and have been asked to
give a presentation to the EU and World Bank.
• Draw a star diagram to show the main problems of the
south
• Show how life in rural areas may be improved.
• Which schemes do you think would bring most benefit?
Activity from Think Through
Geography
Writing frame
• What is the future for the South of Italy?
• The South of Italy is different from the North in
several ways…
• The South suffers from many problems both
physical and human
• Farming in the South could be improved by…
• Industry in the South could be improved by…
• The main problem with the South is…
• Unless these problems are solved then…
Activity from Geography 360°
Lack of wealth in the South: physical and human causes.
Can you separate the human factors from the physical?
(Each factor is expanded through bullet points)
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Old fashioned farming methods
Climate
Drainage
History
Lack of modern industry
Relief
Land ownership
Rock type and soils
Key messages about the Italian
South from the textbooks
• Most people live in hill towns which makes life
difficult
• Farming in the South of Italy is very difficult
• Most farming is subsistence farming
• There is little industry
• Industry has not been successful
• Southern Italy is a problem
• Southern Italy needs to be improved
Photographs of settlement in Italian
atlas
All photographs are of coastal settlements
and include:
• Gulf of Naples
• Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples
• Positano
• Guardini-Naxos, a coastal resort in Sicily
Text about settlement in Italian
atlas
Campania
• The internal area is sparsely populated in
contrast to the dense population in the areas
near Naples and Salerno
Puglia
• Population is concentrated in Bari and other
towns
Calabria
In the mountain zone the population is very sparse
Sicily
• Strong development of coastal cities
Images of agriculture in Italian atlas
Maps
• For each region there is a map showing
distribution of commercial agriculture
Photographs include:
• Tomatoes in Campania
• Olive groves and vines in Puglia
• Orange orchards in Sicily
Text related to agriculture (in Italian
atlas)
Campania
• The Romans called it ‘happy Campania’
because of the fertility of its plains and the
gentleness of its climate
Puglia
• Blessed with a good Mediterranean
climate and characterised by a landscape
almost without hills
Industry in Italian atlas
For each region
• A map showing the distribution of
industries which include: chemicals;
engineering; food processing; timber and
paper; textiles
Activity in Italian atlas
Data provided
Task
For eleven different agricultural
products the top six Italian
regions are ranked according to the
quantity of production.
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Example of data
Tomatoes
• Puglia
• Em. Romagna
• Campania
• Sicily
• Calabria
• Basilicata
For each product give points to
each region, 6 points for the top
region, 5 to the next and so on.
Mark these on a map. Add up the
points. List the six most productive
regions and shade them on a
map. List the six most productive
regions of Italy.
(From this task, the six most
productive regions in Italy, in
order of the points total are: Emilia
Romagna; Puglia; Sicily; Veneto;
Lombardy; and Campania.
NB 3 of these are in the
South
Key messages of the Italian atlas
• Most of the population of Southern Italy
lives in the coastal areas
• The climate favours agriculture
• Southern Italy is very important for
commercial agriculture
• There is a variety of industries
Meridionalismo (southernism)
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‘Europe ends at Naples and ends badly. Calabria, Sicily
and all the rest belong to Africa’ Creuze de Lesser, 1806
Anti-Meridionalismo: An attitude of north towards the
south.
Often in the North of Italy the south is compared
unfavourably with the North.
There are negative stereotypes in Italy about the South
South has been considered ‘backward’, ‘barbaric’
Mezzogiorno as a construct, as a series of images and
perceptions: southern Italy presented as a problem
This image of the south is being challenged now and
representations of the south are being questioned
The effects of looking at Southern
Italy through a negative lens
Leads to an over-emphasis on:
• disadvantages of Southern Italy for farming and industry
• failures of industry
• failures of the past
Affects the selection of:
• photographs
• statistics
• activities for students
Tendency to generalise and present stereotypes
Inaccurate representations
Common inaccuracies
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Most farming is subsistence farming
Most people live in hill top towns
Transport is poor
There is no money for investment
The birth rate is high
There are a lot of old people
Positive aspects not mentioned
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Rich cultural heritage
Very high life expectancy
Well developed motorway network
High rate of car ownership
Mild winter growing season
FIAT at Melfi, Basilicata
Southern Italy in the UK
Products from Southern Italy can
be found in most supermarkets in
England. Typical products are:
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Wine from Sicily and Puglia
Olive oil from Puglia, Sicily, Calabria
Citrus fruits from Sicily and Calabria
Tinned tomatoes from Campania and Puglia
Pasta from Puglia (pasta shapes called
‘orrechiette’)
Some questions
• What is the role of comparisons in
studying places in geography?
• How can we be more aware of the lenses
through which we are studying places?
• How could places be better represented in
textbooks?
• Could textbooks be sources for enquiry
learning rather than sources of
‘information’?