Fairytales—A World between the Imaginary

Metaphor at Play in “Lo cunto de li cunti” by Giambattista Basile
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4438-6205-9
Verlag: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 230 Seiten

This book investigates Basile’s contribution to the establishment of fairytales as a literary genre; the focus is on his masterpiece Lo cunto de li Cunti. The volume examines Basile’s work’s debt to tradition and its influence on posterity, while also studying the author’s unique use of metaphors in the rich Neapolitan dialect. As this study reveals, metaphors in Lo cunto de li cunti are not used simply as a mean of embellishment; rather they are employed as a way to inform the reader of the rich folkloric tradition of Naples during the baroque times, as well as of Basile’s discontent with the socio-political situation of his times. The use of metaphors is so pervasive that one could argue that the book is itself a metaphor through which Basile conveys his ideals and his utopia of a liberated Naples and a more just society; as well as the importance of the Neapolitan dialect and its linguistic registers. Furthermore, the book also proposes a new interpretation of the female characters of the tales and it instigates a discussion on gender roles in both modern and past societies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bernadetta, Carmela Scala

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Romanische Literaturen Italienische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, Märchen, Mythen, Sagen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturtheorie: Poetik und Literaturästhetik
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik

Über Autor(innen)

Bernadetta, Carmela Scala
Carmela Scala received her PhD in Comparative Literature from The City University of New York. Her main field of research is Baroque literature, fairy tales, folklore and dialect literature. She is also interested in film and contemporary literature, and has published a book on contemporary Italian cinema and has written and published articles on more modern Italian writers such as Leopardi, Pasolini, Anna Banti, Achille Serao, and Salvatore DiGiacomo. She is currently the Coordinator of the Language Program Department of Italian at Rutgers University.

Carmela Scala received her PhD in Comparative Literature from The City University of New York. Her main field of research is Baroque literature, fairy tales, folklore and dialect literature. She is also interested in film and contemporary literature, and has published a book on contemporary Italian cinema and has written and published articles on more modern Italian writers such as Leopardi, Pasolini, Anna Banti, Achille Serao, and Salvatore DiGiacomo. She is currently the Coordinator of the Language Program Department of Italian at Rutgers University.