The Italian Literary Fairy Tale in the Russian Reception of the 19th-21st Centuries (Giambattista Basile, Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Collodi, Gianni Rodari)

The article deals with the Italian literary fairy tales of Carlo Gozzi, Carlo Collodi and Gianni Rodari in the Russian critical reception of the 20th century. Particular attention is paid to the first collection of authentic folk tales in the European literature, The Pentamerone (The Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones) by Giambattista Basile (1566-1632), the creator of the Italian literary fairy tale. The Russian-Italian and Italian-Russian interrelations are examined on the basis of the analysis and critical reception of the Italian literary fairy tale. Translated literature has always been important in children's reading: like national literature, it has a serious impact on the moral and aesthetic education of children. Literary fairy tales of the greatest foreign writers (e.g., Perrault, Brentano, Tieck, Novalis, Wieland, the brothers Grimm) became an important component of Russian children's reading long ago. The seventeenth century can be considered the golden age of the fairy tale in Italy thanks to Basile's The Pentamerone. Basile's followers in the genre of the literary fairy tale are Gozzi, Collodi and Rodari. Gozzi's dramatic fairy tales brought him tremendous success in the Russian theatrical world of the 20th century. Russian readers first got acquainted with Collodi and his wonderful The Adventures of Pinocchio in A.N. Tolstoy's free retelling called The Golden Key or the Adventures of Buratino. In the 19th century, Collodi developed Basile's traditions in the genre of a literary fairy tale. High artistry, light humor, closeness to the folk world outlook, organic combination of the comic and subtle edification made his book The Adventures of Pinocchio a classical children's reading. Rodari also entered the circle of Russian children's reading. His main book, The Adventures of the Little Onion (Cipollino), was first translated into Russian in 1953. It should be mentioned that it is also the great merit and excellent work of Samuil Marshak on translating Rodari's poems and tales that made Rodari's books favorite among Russian children. Rodari's works in poetry and prose are undoubtedly perceived as an important contribution to the creation of new, democratic children's literature in Italy and enjoy the deserved popularity and love of young readers, not only Italian, but also Russian.

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