From court to forest : Giambattista Basile's Lo cunto de li cunti and the birth of the literary fairy tale / Nancy L. Canepa.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-321) and index.

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- Lo cunto de li cunti: A “Cinderella� of Literary History -- The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale -- Defining the Literary Fairy Tale -- Fairy Tales and Reality

The Editorial and Critical History of Lo cunto de li cunti 2. The Life and Times of Giambattista Basile -- The Kingdom of Naples -- The Wandering Courtier -- Intellectual Life: The Courts and Academies -- 3. The Cultural Background of Lo cunto de li cunti -- From Renaissance Novella to Baroque Fairy Tale

From Italian to Neapolitan The Lettere and Le Muse napoletane -- 4. Rites of Initiation -- The Frame Tale -- Rites of Passage (Tale I.1) -- Narrative Organization of Lo cunto de li cunti -- 5. The Disenchantment of Power: Kings and Courtiers -- Monarchic Misdoings: Kings -- The Dangers of Idleness: Frivolous Kings

The Benefits of Counsel: Inept Kings The Seduction of the Same: Incestuous Kings -- Abandoned Brides: Forgetful Kings -- With a Vengeance: Cruel Kings -- The Price of Success: Courtiers -- 6. The Key to Success: Enterprising Heroes and Heroines -- Collaborating for Success

Deception and Disguise: Winning through Trickery Modeling Destinies: The Creation of Fairy-Tale Subjects -- 7. Significant Others: Ogres, Fools, and Forests -- Figures of Alterity: Ogres -- In Praise of Folly: Triumphant Simpletons -- Fairy-Tale Landscapes: The Case of the Bosco -- 8. Marvelous Metaphor

From Court to Forest is a critical and historical study of the beginnings of the modern literary fairy tale. Giambattista Basile's Lo cunto de li cunti, written in Neapolitan dialect and published in 1634-36, comprises fifty fairy tales and was the first integral collection of literary fairy tales to appear in Western Europe. It contains some of the best known fairy-tales types, such as Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, and others, many in their earliest versions. Although it became a central reference point for subsequent fairy-tale writers, such as Perrault and the Grimms, as well as a treasure chest for folklorists, Lo cunto de li cunti has had relatively little attention devoted to it by literary scholars.

This work fills a gap in fairy-tale and Italian literary studies through its rediscovery of one of the most important authors of the Italian Baroque and the genre of the literary fairy tale.

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