The house and the forest in the fairy tale sas educational spaces. The case ofe the picturebok “C’era una volta una bambina”.

Susanna Barsotti

2019-01-01

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Abstract

The fairytale, since ancient times, has succeeded in capturing the imagination of human beings everywhere in the world. Its fascination still reaches us through rewritings, constant contamination with different media, from orality to writing, from cinema to theatre, from advertising to animation. This article aims to draw attention on two fairytale spaces of excellence: the house and the forest, highlighting their value as spaces where education takes place. On this subject, we analyze the particular case of the picture book C’era una volta una bambina (Topipittori) by Giovanna Zoboli and Joanna Concejo. In this book, the house, a private space in which to grow, becomes a symbol of the female dimension from which the story begins, unfolding through the adventurous and unknown paths of the forest. The house is that nest which was so important in 19th century children's literature, a place of salvation and protection. It is not always a safe place in the fairy tales and in this version of Little Red Riding Hood it even becomes a prison, which prevents a free and educational space, but, luckily, there are the forest and the wolves.