Le parole dell’abitato precario. I “fondaci” dimenticati di Napoli tra vergogna e patrimonializzazione

The paper explores both the historic and the linguistic evolution of some symbolic terms indicating precarious dwellings in Naples, such as the bassi, ground-floor, windowless dwellings, and the fondaci, commercial buildings widespread throughout the Mediterranean, which in Naples between the 17th and 18th century became precarious dwellings and were then demolished by the Risanamento at the end of the 19th century. Strongly rooted in the urban imagination and in identity rhetorics, fondaci still exist in the urban fabric and in contemporary touristic Naples they live between shame and disregard, far removed from the heritage processes that are currently affecting the bassi.