Resumen
Resumen de Cuentos populares italianos
Para quién es
For readers who love fairy tales, folklore and oral stories, and anyone curious about how the same plots appear in many countries.
De qué trata este libro
Italian Popular Tales is a collection of folk stories from the length of Italy, put together by Thomas Frederick Crane and published in 1885. Crane was an American professor of Romance languages at Cornell University. He drew his tales from the printed work of Italian collectors, who had recorded people's stories in many regions and dialects. He added notes that set each tale beside its cousins in other lands.
What do you get from it? You get fairy tales with kings, enchanted animals and clever youngest sons. You get legends, tales of cunning, jests about fools and simple rhymes for small children. You also get a guide to how a story can travel across a continent and across centuries. The first thing to see is the world these tales came from, and the men who saved them.
En este resumen
- 1Italy's many voices, written down at lastFree
- 2Fairy tales are full of kings and tasks
- 3Cunning, saints and fools in the other tales
- 4Nursery stories teach through rhythm and repeat
- 5Stories travel far from their first home
- 6The notes show how far each tale reaches
Idea clave 1 de 6
Italy's many voices, written down at last
In the nineteenth century Italy was not yet one country in daily life. It had only recently been joined into a single state, and people still spoke strongly different dialects. A Sicilian farmer, a Venetian boatman and a Tuscan grandmother could tell the same kind of tale in different dialects. The stories of ordinary people had mostly lived in the air, passed from voice to voice.
Around the time of unification, scholars began to see that these tales were disappearing and worth saving. Collectors in Sicily, Tuscany, Venice, Piedmont, Naples, Rome and other regions went to listeners and storytellers and wrote down what they heard. Each volume carried the flavor of its own place. Some were put down in dialect, some in plain Italian, and some were grouped by region.
Thomas Crane came to this material as a professor of Romance languages and a student of medieval literature. He read widely through the printed Italian collections and chose tales that gave a fair picture of the whole country. His aim was to show English readers what Italy's common people told and loved, and to place those stories in the wider study of folklore.
The result is a book that speaks with many voices at once. A tale from the south may be bright and strange, while one from the north may be sly. Reading in order, you move across the map as much as through plots.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Cuentos populares italianos
What is Italian Popular Tales about?
It is a collection of folk tales from many regions of Italy, including fairy tales, legends, tales of cunning, jests and nursery stories, all told as peasants, nurses and village storytellers once told them.
Who collected the stories in Italian Popular Tales?
Crane did not gather them in the villages himself. He chose them from printed collections made by Italian scholars, who had written them down from peasants and storytellers in different regions.
When was Italian Popular Tales published?
It was published in 1885. The tales themselves are much older, passed down by word of mouth, and some have relatives in medieval and Renaissance story books.
Are these tales the same as the Grimm fairy tales?
They share many plots and motifs with the Grimms, such as clever youngest children and magic helpers. But the Italian versions have local settings and tone, and Crane compares them across countries.
Is Italian Popular Tales good for children?
Some tales and rhymes suit children well, especially the nursery stories. Others contain harsh events or adult humor.