1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781111903321

Autore

Magnanini Suzanne

Titolo

Fairy-tale science : monstrous generation in the tales of Straparola and Basile / / Suzanne Magnanini

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 2008

©2008

ISBN

1-4426-9237-5

1-4426-8808-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (232 p.)

Collana

Toronto Italian Studies

Disciplina

398.20945/0903

Soggetti

Monsters in literature

Fairy tales - Italy - History and criticism

Literature and science - Italy - History

Monsters

Italian fiction - 16th century - History and criticism

Italian fiction - 17th century - History and criticism

History

Folklore

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Electronic books.

Italy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction. Science Fictions -- 1. Facts and Favole -- 2. Wonder Tales in the Age of the Marvellous -- 3. 'Con l'uno e l'altro sesso': Gender, Genre, and Monstrosity in Straparola's Frame Tale -- 4. 'Per far vere le favole': Manipulating Maternal Desire in Basile's Frame Tale -- 5. Bestiality and Interclass Marriage in Straparola's 'Il re porco' -- 6. Foils and Fakes: Manufactured Monsters and the Dragon-Slayer -- 7. Fertile Flatulence: Monstrous Paternity in Basile's 'Viola'.

Sommario/riassunto

"In Fairy-Tale Science Suzanne Magnanini explores the birth and evolution of the literary fairy tale in the context of early modern



discourses on the monstrous. She demonstrates how both the normative literary theories of the Italian intellectual establishment and the emerging New Science limited the genre's success on its native soil. Natural philosophers, physicians, and clergymen positioned the fairy tale in opposition to science, fixing it as a negative pole in a binary system, one which came to define both a new type of scientific inquiry and the nascent literary genre. Magnanini also suggests that, by identifying their literary production with the monstrous and the feminine, Straparola and Basile contributed to the marginalization of the new genre." "A wide-ranging yet carefully crafted study, Fairy-Tale Science investigates the complex interplay between scientific discourse and an emerging literary genre, and expands our understanding of the early modern European imagination."--Jacket.