An Island’s Lazy Eye. Interweaving Pedagogical Dimensions in Fire at Sea

Abstract

In this study, the two authors focus on the analysis of Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary film Fire At Sea in which a child, just as a contemporary Virgil, becomes the narrator of an emblematic historical context and peculiar socio-cultural dynamics. The setting of the island of Lampedusa and Rosi’s characters are symbolically used to reflect on the human tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea and question its relational outcomes on an existential level: meetings, clashes, rejection, indifference, recognition, care. This research aims to provide a double reading of this filmic narration by taking into account the dialogical relation between representation and ethics. The film is interpreted through the lens of children’s literature and of collective imagery analysis, thus exploring its narrative dimension from the point of view of philosophy of education and its axiological reflections.