Canepa, Nancy L., editor. The Enchanted Boot: Italian Fairy Tales and Their Tellers. Wayne State UP, 2022

Abstract

The Enchanted Boot: Italian Fairy Tales and Their Tellers, edited, translated, and introduced by Nancy L. Canepa, is an important contribution to the library of fairy tale anthologies. The introduction establishes the history of fairy tales in Italy, arguing that “the three most significant moments in Italian fairy-tale history occur at pivotal moments of construction, deconstruction, or reconfiguration of national identity” (22). From Baroque and Renaissance Italy to post-war Italy, Canepa effectively elucidates the waxing and waning interest in fairy tales as part of Italy’s literary and national history. Readers more familiar with the French and German fairy tale traditions will be interested to learn that Giambattista Basile’s literary versions of familiar tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Hansel and Gretel precede Perrault’s and the Grimms’ versions. However, the initial flowering of literary fairy tales during the Italian Renaissance did not create the same sustained creative process that occurred elsewhere in Europe and they have fallen in and out of vogue in the literary tradition, which has contributed to the lack of Italian fairy tales in the canon. The lack of a comprehensive sampling in Italian fairy tales in English has also impacted this reduced presence in the European fairy tale canon. This anthology intends to expand the traditional European canon by reintroducing Italian fairy tales to English-speaking scholars. This accessible anthology features translations of key Italian fairy tales, ranging from the fourteenth to the twenty-first century. Although organized chronologically, Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index (ATU) tale types are identified in the preface to each fairy tale, as well as compiled in an appendix, which assists researchers in navigating this text.