Sicilyspace©sicilyscape

is a space in which I wish to talk about Sicily over and beyond the stereotypes of Sicily, and indeed Italy. It acknowledges the forces of cultural appropriation, consumerism and distortion that are at play in contemporary Sicily, reducing the bio-identical diversity of a place to a language of "tourism only". The concept of Sicily made up of language, costume and food that are inherently diverse, has over a few decades been impoverished. Sicily has a rich tapestry of traditional practices, a nuanced language, and its own contemporaneity that arise from a connection to what is referred to as la terra, the land, meaning not only a piece of land that I may own, but also what in Indigenous culture is known as " belonging to country". Alongside the socio-cultural considerations there's a Sicily that is inherently personal, the one that makes up the historical memory of my inner continuum. It goes from the time I spent in Sicily as a child, born into a family that reaches back in time on both sides, to the time spent away from Sicily on the wave of the migratory phenomena (unknowingly absorbing tradition through my mother's cuisine and stories), only to return as an Italian Australian teenager and catching a glimpse of a world destined to disappear. The final part of the continuum is my move to Sicily decades later, living in Ortigia and looking after a lemon grove. Of the Sicily I once knew there remains a few old people grumbling in dialect, just a hint of traditional colours and motifs showing up in foreign made tea-towels, magnets and so on, and culturally appropriated concepts, lifestyle and terra! The idea of Sicily that is generated in the diaspora is another force to reckon with, contaminating the tourism of Sicily, and enacting stereotypes that are crushing to those for whom this island is home, as well as the notion of ancestry. Below I list the cultural practices, the writing, the research and the creation that is intrinsically tied up with the unstated identity that exists alongside my being a citizen of the world, Australian educated, but with a soul that is Sicily.

Silvana Tuccio PhD

Sicily, October 2026

BOOKS

Sogni un cielo tutto stelle, o forse un vulcano in eruzione, oppure un’inspiegabile piramide sorta accanto alla cupola di Brunelleschi? No, stai solo leggendo Spiazzamenti, i racconti che potevo scrivere solo là, in un posto chiamato Ortigia. Una trama narrativa magico-surreale s’innesca nelle pieghe del viaggio: Firenze, la Sicilia, Stromboli.
As small as an iphone and as slim, but packed with punch. You might be dreaming of a star-studded sky, an erupting volcano and a pyramid next to Brunelleschi's dome or you might just be reading: Spiazzamenti a collection of short stories I wrote while living the life in Ortygia, Sicily.Feltrinelli