Reformulation of folk tales in twenty first century italian literature for children

Abstract

In this essay, we aim at analyzing 21st Century Italian children's literature in which the folkloric tale tradition is reinterpreted and reformulated. In these books, a strong demystifying and subversive tendency is found. These authors use devices and mechanisms such as the introduction of modern or contemporary elements, the mixture of characters from different stories, parodies, words deformation, etc. This playful manipulation of classic tales” forms and structures also triggers an essential reconsideration of the ethic values that these stories foster: Instead of univocal principles such as authority or duty, contemporary authors in Italy lean towards more complex characters, and more ambiguous conflicts and behaviors. By means of this, this manipulation of previous folkloric narrations, which can be traced in authors such as Gianni Rodari, a new model of children's literature is being promoted. This new literary model attempts to encourage critical thinking among childrenreaders and to revitalize the dialogue with classic tales