Herz-loser Pinocchio: Carlo Collodi und die Fiktionalisierung des italienischen nation building

Abstract

Starting from the most varied interpretations to which Collodi’s masterpiece has been subjected, the present study proposes a reading from a socio-political point of view that, compared with De Amicis’ Cuore, highlights the opposite opinion of the two authors regarding the possibility (and the will) of the Italian people to realize the foundation of a nation following the unification of their country. At the end of the study, a working hypothesis is presented as a reading of Pinocchio as “Pinocchieide” and proposed as a parody (and overturning) of the Virgilian poem as the founding of the natio romana.