Chapter Tracce dell’invisibile. Poesia e fotografia in dialogo per raccontare il triplice disastro del Tōhoku

Abstract

The paper primarily centres around the volume titled Out of Sight. Fukushima à l’abri du regard. Aimaina sōshitsu, which was published in France in 2020. This composite volume features a collection of photographs by French photographer Delphine Parodi, who has resided in Japan since 2009. It also includes twenty-four poetic texts by bilingual writer Tawada Yōko, who has been based in Germany since 1982, as well as a compilation of anonymous testimonies from survivors of the triple Tōhoku disaster in March 2011. The paper engages in a reflection on the mediating role of literary and documentary narratives in conveying the actual repercussions of a catastrophe and their artistic reinterpretation. Specifically, the focus is on the imperative need for the representation of the unseen, which is epitomised by the persistent nuclear threat. The photographic work presented in the volume, along with the accompanying textual pieces, is examined as an exploration of the intricate and challenging relationship between humans and nature. This relationship is depicted through landscapes that have been emptied by an intangible yet pervasive and all-encompassing threat. In summary, the paper offers an analysis of this composite volume as a means of exploring the complex interplay between reality and artistic representation in the aftermath of a catastrophe. It delves into the nuanced portrayal of the invisible nuclear threat and the dynamic interaction between humans and their environment.