Pinocchio Puppets and Modernity

<p>This study assesses the significance of Pinocchio in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in addition to his status as the creature of a nineteenth century traversed by a cultural enthusiasm for dummies puppets and marionettes. This collection identifies him as a figure characterized by a 'fluid identity' informed with transition difference joie de vivre otherness displacement and metamorphosis making Pinocchio a truly modern indeed postmodern and posthuman cultural icon.<em> Pinocchio Puppets and Modernity</em> explores this crucial and as yet little visited field reassessing Pinocchio's genealogy and progeny as well as illuminating both the wider context and more specific cultural manifestations of the mechanical-human interface in the domains of theatre the fine arts literature radio and even virtual reality coherently with the digital metamorphosis of our times. </p><p>The wide-ranging scope of this exploration encompasses Italian French and English literature dummies and marionettes in modernist and contemporary theatre the fairytale tradition and traditional and contemporary painting as well as the older and newer media of radio television cinema and the Internet. The diverse comparative and multimedia focus of this original discussion testifies to the enduring transcultural legacy of Pinocchio. Eminently sellable as a traditional cultural icon Pinocchio is equally impactful and relevant for a globalized multicultural and virtual society from Collodi to Disney and beyond.</p><p>Katia Pizzi is Senior Lecturer in Italian at the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies School of Advanced Study University of London. She has published volumes on cultural identities including A City in Search of an Author (2001) and The Cultural Identities of European Cities (2010) and on children's literature and illustration.</p>