“The Blue Bird” and “L’Uccello turchino”: Collodi: Translator of d’Aulnoy

Abstract

Abstract:In spite of its crucial role in the creative process leading to Pinocchio, I racconti delle fate, Collodi’s 1876 translation of tales by Charles Perrault, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy, and Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, has received little critical attention. Drawing on Collodi’s source—a nineteenth-century French anthology published for children—and on the second edition of I racconti delle fate that was corrected by the translator, this essay compares d’Aulnoy’s “L’Oiseau bleu” (“The Blue Bird”) and Collodi’s “L’Uccello turchino” (“The Blue Bird”). Far from “introducing” comedy, parody, and other stylistic changes, Collodi only deepened and emphasized these features in d’Aulnoy’s tales—features that, then, had a significant influence on Pinocchio.