Post by Jasmine Rasberry from ,,The Cruel Witch''

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Calvino
Italian Folktales is a collection of 200 Italian folktales published in 1956 by Italo Calvino. Calvino began the project in 1954. Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale influenced him. His intention was to emulate the Brothers Grimm in producing a popular collection of Italian fairy tales for the general reader. He did not compile tales from listeners, but made extensive use of the existing work of folklorists; he noted the source of each individual tale, but warned that was merely the version he used.

The story seems to be aimed at children yet the hint at cannibalism seems to make it intended for adults. The story is not educational as the mother gives her no instructions and there is no clear moral at the end of the story. The tale seems to be for amusement or to glorify the rational mind. The intended audience is not a scholar and the tale is not written in a literary style. The style is very simple and told in the way a regular person or a child might tell the story. Giulio Einaudi commissioned the book.
This tale is somewhat different to that of Perrault and the Grimm Brothers. Like in the Grimm version, there is a happy ending for the girl, whereas in Perrault the girl and the grandmother are eaten. The grandmother doesn't survive. The Jordan River and the Rake Gate are included in the tale. This gives the tale a religious feel, which is different from the previous versions. Instead of a wolf, there is a hairy ogress, which is interesting. It gives an element of fantasy to the tale. It takes away the male threat and makes female the threat to children. The story may suggest the threat of the female to the community, the general move towards reason, the threat of famine, and adoption of Marxist ideas.
Posted by Jasmine at 10:18 PM