I find the current debate on Pinocchio very interesting. I am a postgrad
at UCD and I am doing my PhD on fantastic metamorphosis as a political
and social commentary in Italian children's literature. I have spent
much time working on Pinocchio and I find Ann Lawson Lucas'introduction
in her translation of Pinocchio provides a good basis for understanding
how the text reflects the culture and society of its time.
Other texts which touch on issues such as the political and historical
context are Bertacchini - Collodi Narratore
and Jack Zipes essay in Happily Ever After- Fairy-Tales and the Culture
Industry.
I would be interested to hear others views on the teaching of Italian
children's literature to non Italians. I, personally think a very
interesting course could be devised on Italian children's literature at
a university level. Giorgio Cadorini has commented that Italian books
for children often contain cultural references specific to Italy, but I
do not think this is insurmountable. I think that comparing the way
Collodi adapted and italianised the french fairy tales of Perrault with
Perrault's tales is an illuminating project.
Children's Literature in Italy has been closely connected with political
and social developments, ever since Unification, when the need to
educate Italy's young coincided with the need to build a united Italian
people. For this reason it can open up debates on many cultural and
historical questions specific to Italy. I feel that students also enjoy
studying the children's literature of another country that is not their
own.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has tried to teach Pinocchio on
a university course,
Lindsay Myers MA
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