Sicilian Epic and the Marionette Theater
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About the Book
This study analyzes the folkloric genres that comprise the repertoire of the marionette theater in Sicily. Here, epic, farce, saints’ lives, bandits’ lives, fairytales, Christian myth, and city legend offer the vehicles by which puppeteers comment upon, critique—perhaps even negotiate—the relationships among the major classes of Sicilian society: the aristocracy, the people, the clergy and the Mafia. The lynchpin of the repertoire is the Carolingian Cycle and, in particular, a contemporary version of The Song of Roland known in Sicily as The Death of the Paladins, a text which illustrates the means by which the Carolingian heroes—Charlemagne, Roland, Renaud, Ganelon, and Angelica—augment saints, bandits, Biblical figures and Sicilian folk heroes to provide the marionette theater its rhetorical function: the articulation and dissemination of the tools of Sicilian identity.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Michael Buonanno
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 236
Bibliographic Info: 19 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7767-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1500-4
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
Preface: A Storied Island 1
Introduction: The Genius of Palermo 5
One: The Cultural Context of Sicilian Epic 27
Two: The Marionette Theater 52
Three: Knights and Masques 70
Four: Saints and Bandits 88
Five: On Christian Soil 109
Six: The Carolingian Cycle 128
Seven: The Song of Roland in Sicily 141
Eight: Social Order and the Fairy Tale 153
Nine: City Legend and Secret Societies 172
Conclusion: The Last Adventure 183
Appendix: The Death of the Paladins 199
Chapter Notes 207
Bibliography 217
Index 221
Book Reviews & Awards
“Fascinating and well-researched…an expert, articulate, and sensitive work…valuable…insightful and intelligent”—Journal of Folklore Research.
