The Voices of Water: Intermedial Blue Eco-Stories. An Introduction

Is there a possible genealogy of old and multifaceted eco-stories of water? And if it exists, when did the first forms of ecological awareness appear? Did these forms elaborate values and perspectives that can be worthy of transformation and reintegration? In dialogue with feminist studies, ecocriticism and blue ecocriticism, the essay focuses on the representation water and its significance during the early modern age. Indeed, although the great faith in a mechanistic view of nature contributed to manipulate the terrestrial environment by transforming its vital elements into mere passive matter, it was not able to master the secret laws of the aquatic world, of oceans, seas, rivers and their fluid environment.