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Del Principe argues that the allegories in Carlo Collodi’s
Pinocchio make this text particularly adaptable as a vehicle of cultural and linguistic translation.
Pinocchio’s rich symbolism and provocative allegories offer compelling insights into nineteenth-century Risorgimento Italy that, in turn, evoke broad cultural parallels with contemporary society. By emphasizing the pedagogical qualities of the text—what Collodi teaches by means of allegory—and students’ knowledge of the contemporary Gothic aesthetic—especially music, television, and film—Del Principe undertakes a Gothic reading of
Pinocchio and its historical, political, and cultural contexts. A Gothic thematics based on scientific, reproductive, geopolitical, alimentary, evolutionary, and religious allegories is proposed as a cultural bridge to Collodi’s era and as a vehicle for instructors to launch a discussion about a broad range of related, topical issues, such as energy sources, technology, and evolutionism. An examination of Collodi’s social skepticism engenders a discussion of the puppet’s aberrant reproduction and hybrid identity that draws on nineteenth-century Gothic works such as
Frankenstein and
Dracula and strikes contemporary parallels. Del Principe examines the puppet’s anatomy as a geopolitical signifier for the political events surrounding Italian unification and imperialism, raising racial issues relevant to a study of immigration in Italy today. The discussion culminates in a deconstruction of Christian and sexual symbolism that positions
Pinocchio within a tradition of Gothic transference and monstrosity.
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