Drawing Taranto

Abstract

Taranto, located in the Southern Italian region of Apulia, is home to Europe’s largest steel factory, the ex-ILVA (now Acciaierie d’Italia). The city is unfortunately well-known nationally due to the decades-long pollution caused by the factory. Although the lack of control over ILVA’s emissions has been penalized multiple times throughout the years, it has resulted in dangerous concentrations of dioxins and metals in the local environment. In the early 2000s, ILVA’s environmental malpractice was depicted in various cultural works, such as novels and films. Furthering existing analyses on Taranto’s cultural representation, this article focuses on two graphic novels: ILVA: Comizi d’acciaio (2013) by Carlo Gubitosa and Kanjano and Senza rabbia non vale nulla (2025) by Holdenaccio. It investigates their rendition of Taranto, ex-ILVA, and Southern Italy, highlighting the ecocritical value of graphic novels. Crucially, this article foregrounds the issue of waste. Waste is understood as both a material and relational issue, which manifests itself through the high level of pollution and toxicity present in Taranto and an overall environmental malpractice, as well as through the anti-Southern, anti-meridionalist, construction of Southern Italy as the socioeconomic deadweight of the country. Ultimately, the article explores instances of waste in Taranto, along with narratives highlighting the refusal, commoning, and resistance of its citizens in the face of the health-versus-employment blackmail and disenfranchisement. It positions waste as instrumental in formulating a new understanding of “Southerness” as a site of resistance rather than abjection and in contesting an anti-Southern, monolithic, view of the region.