Chivalric Folk Tradition in Sicily

Marcella Croce taught Italian at the University of Isfahan in Iran and Kyoto in Japan. She has given lectures on Sicilian culture for the Palermo Elderhostel Program. Since 2002 she has organizer the Palermo semester abroad program of Union College in Schenectady, New York. She has published numerous books on Sicilian traditions in Italian and in English. She lives in Palermo. Her website is www.marcellacroce.com.

“A little gem… invaluable”—Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsForeword by Michael BuonannoForeword by Christopher KleinhenzPrefaceOne • From the Middle Ages to the PuppetsIntroducing Sicily—A Mosaic of CulturesThe Chivalric Stories Through the CenturiesThe Chivalric Tradition in Sicily Before the RenaissanceThe Success of Chivalric Romances in Sicily in the 16th CenturyProblems on the Origin of the Sicilian Puppet ShowTwo • The Oral TraditionThe Chivalric Tradition Between Learned and Popular LiteratureThe Role of the Storyteller in the Osmosis Process Between Dominant and Subordinate CulturesThree Types of Traditional Storytellers: Chivalric Tales, Sacred Stories and ChroniclesThe Tradition of Blind Storytellers (Orbi) in PalermoThe Traditional Epic Storytellers in Sicily and in NaplesSicilian Traditional Epic Storytellers in the Past and in the PresentTraces of the Chivalric Tradition in the Language of the Sicilian People—Idiomatic Expressions and ProverbsToponyms and Family NamesThree • The CelebrationsA Carnival Pantomime with a Knight: The Mastro di CampoDancing with Swords and a Holy Virgin in ArmsChivalric Stories with Drums and Bells in Monforte San GiorgioFour • The Puppet ShowsThe Sicilian Puppet Shows in a NutshellPuppets or Marionettes? The Opera dei Pupi and the Sicilian DialectThe Climax of the Sicilian Puppet Shows: The Famous Legendary Battle of RoncevauxRoncevaux in Lodico’s BookRoncevaux on the Stage of the Sicilian Puppet ShowsThe Rout of Roncevaux in the Ideology of the Opera dei PupiThe Puppet Shows as “Necessary Art” of the Sicilian PeopleFive • A Family of PuppeteersPresentation of Girolamo Cuticchio and His FamilyStory of the Family—Girolamo as an Apprentice PuppeteerA Puppeteer Is BornCrisis and Revival of a PassionLittle Puppeteers Grow UpTwo Artisans’ Workshops in Giacomo Cuticchio’s MemoriesOnce Upon a Time: The Corte delle Stelle Theater in CefalùBetween pages 100 and 101 there are 16 color plates containing 21 photographsSix • The Playbills (Cartelloni) of the Puppet TheaterDefinitions of Folk Art and Peculiar Characteristics of Sicilian Folk ArtChivalric Subjects for Sicilian Folk Art The Rout of Roncevaux in Playbill Posters for the Puppet ShowsSeven • The Sicilian Painted CartsThe Sicilian Carts in a NutshellHistory of the CartMakers of the CartThe Cart Builder and the SculptorThe Metal WorkerThe PainterChivalric Subjects Painted on the Carts Belonging to the Pitrè Museum in Palermo and to the Palazzo d’Aumale Museum in TerrasiniThe Maker of Horse TrappingsThe World of the Cart DriversThe Feast of St. Joseph in BagheriaThe Cart as a Sicilian SymbolLights and Shadows on the Sicilian CartsOther Objects for Chivalric Subjects and Revival in Today’s Folk ArtConclusionsAppendix: The Puppets and Their StoriesChapter NotesBibliographyIndex