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The Water Cultures of Italy, 1500-1900

Descripción del proyecto

Replanteamiento de la historia italiana sobre la función del agua

El proyecto Water-Cultures analiza la función del agua en la sociedad, con lo que proporciona un nuevo campo de estudio de la historia social y cultural centrándose en un bien precioso pero a menudo olvidado. El método epistemológico utilizado incorporará varios aspectos en el estudio, desde la gestión de los recursos hídricos hasta las creencias y prácticas culturales. El proyecto se centrará en la Italia de entre el 1500 y el 1900 d. C. debido a su detallado material de archivo y a la riqueza de sus factores políticos, culturales y geográficos. Pretende poner de relieve la función de la relación de una sociedad con el agua en la construcción de su identidad y autorrepresentación en la historia.

Objetivo

Behind this project lies a paradox: water, although vital for life, has historically had little intrinsic value. Considered base and common as a drink, it was nevertheless the most symbolically charged of the elements; of limited monetary value in and of itself, access to it was in fact hard-fought, the foundation and driving force of society. The Water Cultures project aims to create a new field of study, based around the social and cultural history of a people’s polyvalent interactions with water, applicable to a wide range of places and times.
The project proposes an epistemological method of structuring, analysing and presenting the diverse range of findings and approaches into a new holistic understanding. The Water Cultures concept is based on the synergistic braiding of five key 'Streams': the symbolic beliefs and practices associated with water; the circulation and evolution of knowledge about water and disease and its effects; the water management systems of large cities and demands on them; the changing hydraulic landscape of rural areas; and the occupations of water, exploring the professions and trades associated with water and its delivery and uses.
Italy has been chosen as the case study—for its rich archives and social, political and geographical variety. The Italian history of water, from the 1500s to the end of the 19th century, is a story of authority and conflict, social hierarchy and material realities, changing medical and scientific knowledge and technological expertise, and religious beliefs and practices. Yet Italian historians have undervalued water and its uses.
This transformative project conceptualises a new way of writing history, with water at its core. It proposes the history and culture of a given society, the construction of identities and forms of self-representation based on relationships and interactions with water: the ways of controlling, using and conceiving it, and the symbolic, creative and material dimensions it assumed.

Régimen de financiación

ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant

Institución de acogida

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Aportación neta de la UEn
€ 2 433 520,25
Dirección
DORSODURO 3246
30123 Venezia
Italia

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Región
Nord-Est Veneto Venezia
Tipo de actividad
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Enlaces
Coste total
€ 2 433 520,25

Beneficiarios (2)