engleski

THE GROTESQUE, THE MYTH AND THE DIDACTIC ELEMENTS IN G.B. BASILE’S IL PENTAMERONE

This paper, besides a short introduction concerning general information on themes and structure present in the short story collection Lo Cunto de li Cunti Ovvero lo Trattenimento di Peccerille, written by Italian Baroque author Giambattista Basile, whose masterpiece enjoyed great fame abroad much earlier than in Italy, is concerned with the analysis of fantastic and grotesque elements which generally characterise oral tradition, fairy tales and myths. The above- mentioned elements were identified in the fifty short stories which Basile had managed to gather and include in his collection during his lifetime. Various sources were used in the analysis, relying on myths and fairy tales with the aim to explain the presence of the grotesque. Besides its great literary value, this collection is of a great historical importance because, just like many other examples of oral tradition, it fosters a vast span of costumes and traditions that are typical of the Mediterranean folklore. From one tale to another the collection slowly but surely reveals the Mediterranean identity of the people from the South of Italy and explains the function of the grotesque and its didactic purpose.

fairy tales, fantasy, folklore, grotesque, magic, myth, tradition

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