Urbanities,
Vol. 4
·
No 2
·
November 2014
© 2014
Urbanities
21
‘Meat Smells Like Corpses’:
Sensory Perceptions in a Sicilian Urban Marketplace
Brigida Marovelli
(Brunel University)
Based on in-depth ethnographic research, this article analyses how the tendency to sanitising urban spaces has
affected the urban marketplace of La Pescheria, Catania, Sicily, and how this is reflected in the sensory
experience of the space itself. Local authorities aim to render the market more appealing for a new clientele,
mainly tourists and gastronomic experts. The reactions to this urban gentrification attempt are observable
through the ethnography of people’ sensory experience, which informs what kind of social order is maintained
and/or contested within the market. Focusing on what is allowed to be experienced helps to unveil stratification
of meanings, which demonstrate that bodily knowledge is deeply connected to space. The market is seen as a
space under construction, in which cultural values are intertwined within the economic system. I examine
accounts related to smell, touch and hearing as central arenas of contention in the marketplace. The shift in the
direction of a more sanitised and secluded urban space encounters resistance and a smelly, noisy market can be
understood as a space of disobedience, in which noise and smell become a statement against authority.
Keywords
: Senses, Sicily, Food, Market, Cities.
Introduction
Catania is located on the oriental coast of Sicily, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the second
largest city of the region, with over one million inhabitants in the province and with 300,000
citizens residing in the municipality (ISTAT 2011). Like other European cities, Catania
experienced great expansion due to increased urbanisation during the 20
th
century (Pagano
2007). As the urban population increased, the city centre became very congested and overrun
with traffic. This was followed by several attempts of decentralisation through the creation of
more suburban residential centres. Shopping areas underwent a similar transformation. In the
last fifteen years neighbourhood markets, supermarkets and lately hypermarkets have
mushroomed in the residential suburbs at the foothills of Mount Etna, where the majority of
the province’s population now lives.
The city centre kept its centrality for administrative purposes, but lost its importance
as far as economic and financial activities were concerned (Comune di Catania 2008).
However, the Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square), built with the unique volcanic stone that is
used both for the pavements and the buildings, is still the heart of Catania. The stark contrast
of white marble and black volcanic stone characterises eastern Sicily’s Baroque style. The
Cathedral, designed by Gian Battista Vaccarini (Rio 1987), is Catania’s most important
church and it is dedicated to Sant’Agata (Saint Agatha),
1
the city’s patron saint.
U’ liotru
, the
fountain of the elephant,
2
symbol of the city, is also located in Piazza Duomo.
1
Saint Agatha was one other first Christian female martyrs. Saint Agatha’s is the most lively and
heartfelt cult in Catania’s religious life. Saint Agatha is believed to defend the city from volcanic
eruptions. Each February, approximately one million people take part in her celebration: the whole
city is transformed into a ceremony. Citizens and tourists crowd the streets and every urban
neighbourhood joins the celebrations
2
This fountain was also assembled by Gian Battista Vaccarini in 1736. This Italian architect,
responsible for much of the town’s extensive restorations after the 1693 earthquake, combined the
