Giovanni francesco straparola biography of michael jordan
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These stories often integrate grotesque or bodily elements, such as hybrid forms or nocturnal revelations, blending folkloric wonder with Renaissance-era concerns over lineage and fortune.[21]Recurring motifs across Straparola's fairy tales center on "rise narratives," wherein protagonists of modest origins achieve elite status through magical intermediaries—fairies bestowing objects or animals enabling deception of the nobility—reflecting Venetian mercantile aspirations for upward mobility amid rigid hierarchies.[32]Animal helpers, as in feline or canine aides that simulate opulence, recur as agents of cunning rather than brute force, while transformation sequences, frequently tied to ritual acts like ointments or riddles, symbolize the unveiling of hidden worth; erotic undertones, including interspecies unions, appear in tales like the Pig King's, highlighting pragmatic alliances over idealized romance.[29] Scholarly analyses note these patterns draw from oral precedents yet innovate by embedding them in literate, urban frames, prioritizing triumphant closures that affirm individual agency over fatalism.[33] Unlike medieval exempla, Straparola's motifs favor empirical ingenuity augmented by the marvelous, eschewing moral didacticism for entertaining reversals of fortune.[5]
Scholarly Claims of Invention
Ruth Bottigheimer has argued that Giovanni Francesco Straparola invented the "rise tale," a narrative structure featuring protagonists who ascend from rags to riches through magical intervention, originating twelve to thirteen such tales within Le Piacevoli Notti published between 1550 and 1553.[34] She posits this innovation emerged in an urban Venetian context among upper social classes, projecting emerging Italian merchant values onto literary forms, and served as the foundational model for subsequent European fairy tales over the following 250 years.[35] Bottigheimer's analysis in Fairy Godfather: Straparola, Venice, and the Fairy Tale Tradition (2002) emphasizes Straparola's role as the literary originator of the fairy tale genre, distinguishing his supernatural novellas from prior medieval exempla or beast fables by integrating moral ascent with fantastical elements.[36]Critics, including Nancy L.Canepa, have challenged Bottigheimer's claims, asserting that Straparola did not constitute a revolutionary break but rather adapted pre-existing motifs, with evidence of one rise tale deriving from earlier Jewish-European hybrid narratives that predated his work.[5] Canepa's examination in "Straparola: The Revolution That Was Not" (2010) reviews Bottigheimer's textual evidence and concludes that Straparola's tales reflect continuity with oral and literary traditions rather than wholesale invention, noting parallels to oriental origins in several stories.[32] Similarly, analyses of motifs like the helpful animal in "Constantino Fortunato"—a precursor to Perrault's Le Chat Botté (1697)—trace roots to medieval fabliaux, undermining claims of Straparola's exclusive origination.[4]Scholars such as Jack Zipes acknowledge Straparola's contributions to the literary fairy tale's emergence alongside Giambattista Basile's Lo cunto de li cunti (1634–1636), crediting him with pioneering the fusion of frame narratives, enigmas, and magical prose tales in vernacular Italian, though not as a singular inventor of the form.[37] This perspective highlights verifiable innovations in Le Piacevoli Notti's structure—73 stories framed by thirteen evenings of storytelling on the island of Murano—but attributes broader genre development to cumulative influences rather than isolated invention.[38] Debates persist due to limited primary sources on Straparola's influences, with textual comparisons revealing adaptations from Boccaccio's Decameron (c.
This collection includes some of the first known printed versions of fairy tales in Europe, as they are known today. Estimates place the year around 1558, aligning with the cessation of his known publications and dedications.
This appended riddle mechanism fosters interactivity within the fictional assembly, blending entertainment with puzzle-solving, and underscores Straparola's adaptation of oral performance into printed form.[21][30]
Key Stories and Motifs
Straparola's Le Piacevoli Notti features approximately fifteen tales identifiable as proto-fairy tales amid its seventy-five narratives, distinguished by supernatural elements such as fairies, transformations, and magical animals that propel protagonists from obscurity to prosperity.[4] One prominent example is "The Pig King" from the first night, first tale, where a queen, desperate for an heir, invokes a fairy's aid, resulting in the birth of a porcine son cursed to retain animal form by day but humanize partially at night through his wife's secret application of ointment; the prince sires human children, fully transforms after perseverance, and ascends to kingship, emphasizing motifs of endurance, spousal loyalty, and reversal of enchantment.[30] Another foundational story, "Constantino Fortunato" from the third night, first tale, depicts a destitute miller's son aided by his clever cat, which fabricates tales of his master's wealth—presenting hunted fowl as tribute from illusory estates—to deceive a king, securing marriage to the princess and vast lands, thus originating the archetype of the anthropomorphic animal trickster facilitating social elevation.[5]The tale of Fortunio, recounted on the eleventh night, illustrates a poor orphan boy granted three magical gifts by a fairy: a never-emptying purse, a cap conferring eloquence, and a ring enabling invisibility, which he employs to outmaneuver rivals, win royal favor, and claim the throne, underscoring themes of innate virtue rewarded by supernatural patronage despite lowly birth.[31] Additional notable narratives include "Teodoro" (fourth night, third tale), where a shepherd's son prospers via a gold-producing dog, and "Biancabella" (third night, third tale), involving serpentine guardians and enchanted births that affirm familial bonds through trials.Earlier poetic endeavors, such as minor verse collections published in the 1520s and 1530s, predate his Venetian period and do not indicate a sustained career trajectory there. Read more on Wikipedia
His biography is available in 21 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 20 in 2024). This setup mirrors the structure of Boccaccio's Decameron but incorporates Carnival's festive, masked atmosphere, with each night commencing with music, songs, and dances before transitioning to tales.[27][28]The 73 tales—encompassing moral fables, erotic novellas, jests, pseudo-histories, and proto-fairy tales—are unevenly apportioned across the nights, ranging from three to eight per session, for a total spanning two published volumes in 1550 and 1553.
Approximately 14 to 16 of these integrate supernatural motifs, primarily recounted by the female narrators, distinguishing them from the more realistic narratives voiced by others.[24][21][29]Structurally, each tale concludes with an enigma—a poetic riddle posed by the storyteller and collectively resolved by the group—functioning as an intellectualconclusione that reinforces thematic elements and draws from classical or medieval riddle traditions.
He begs her to marry him. Finally, she says she will only marry him if he gives her the hide of a marvelous donkey. No verified records confirm alternative birth names or familial surnames, rendering these variations the primary attested identifiers from primary printed sources such as the 1551–1555 editions of Le piacevoli notti.[11][12]
Venetian Career and Death
Straparola spent the latter part of his life in Venice, where he produced and published his seminal collection Le piacevoli notti.Years later, when the king is convinced to marry again, he realizes that the only suitable woman is his own daughter. This epithet underscores his presumed Milanese origins amid a peripatetic career centered in Venice, where Venetian spellings like Zuan gained currency. When the king gives her even this, she knows he will not be put off and decides to flee.
Contemporary editions and documents from the 16th century render it variably as Gianfrancesco Straparola, Giovan Francesco Straparola, or the Venetian dialect equivalents Zoan Francesco Straparola and Zuan Francesco Straparola, reflecting orthographic inconsistencies and regional phonetic adaptations prevalent in Renaissance printing.[11][12]The locative suffix da Caravaggio often appends to these forms, denoting association with Caravaggio, a Lombard town in the Duchy of Milan where he is reliably placed by birth around 1480, based on self-identification in his works and early biographical notices.
After him are Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Harlan Coben, Pehr Henrik Ling, Babrius, Robert Desnos, and Boualem Sansal.
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Go to all RankingsS. The absence of precise records reflects the era's inconsistent documentation for non-elite figures, underscoring the challenges in reconstructing his final years.[17]
Literary Works
Early Publications
In 1508, Giovanni Francesco Straparola published his debut literary work, Opera nova de Zoan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio nuovamente stampata, a vernacular poetry collection printed in Venice by the publisher Bernardino and Matteo Vitali.[7] The volume included 115 sonnets, 35 strambotti (humorous octaves), 7 epistles, and 12 capitoli (poetic chapters in terza rima), showcasing Straparola's early adoption of Petrarchan forms and themes of courtly love, often addressed to an idealized female figure.[9] He signed the work as "Zoan Francesco," a Lombard variant reflecting his regional origins near Bergamo.[18]This collection positioned Straparola within the milieu of early 16th-century Italian lyric poetry, emulating the stylistic elegance and emotional introspection of Francesco Petrarca while incorporating dialectal elements from his native Lombardy.It also includes beautiful illustrations from Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, Warwick Goble, and Margaret Evans Price. Notable examples include rags-to-riches plots where humble protagonists ascend via ingenuity or fairy intervention, marking early literary adaptations of motifs later refined by writers like Charles Perrault.[26][5] The riddles, drawn from proverbial lore, serve as interpretive keys to the preceding tales, enhancing the work's layered didacticism while appealing to Renaissance tastes for polyphonic storytelling.[25]
Narrative Style and Themes
Straparola's Le Piacevoli Notti utilizes a frame narrative modeled on Boccaccio's Decameron, depicting a gathering of twelve ladies and three or four gentlemen hosted by Lucrezia Gonzaga, Marchioness of Mantua, on the island of Murano during the 13 nights of Venetian Carnival in an unspecified year.[21][5] Each evening commences with a feast, followed by storytellers—predominantly women—recounting tales that blend novellas, fables, and proto-fairy tales, concluding with an enigma or riddle solved collectively to determine the next narrator.[21] This structure integrates diverse sources, including 15 adaptations from earlier novelists, 22 from Girolamo Morlini's Latin Novellae (1520), and others from medieval, oriental, or original inventions, presented in concise, dramatic prose that evokes oral performance while catering to print audiences.[5]The style emphasizes entertainment through a lively tone mixing humor, bawdy eroticism, and fantastical elements, with female narrators voicing subversive perspectives on gender and society, though resolutions often reaffirm patriarchal norms.[21] Straparola authenticates tales via marginal notes referencing historical or literary origins, enhancing verisimilitude for urban readers, and employs rhythmic, allusive language to bridge folk motifs with literary sophistication.[5]Central themes revolve around social mobility, particularly "rise tales" where humble protagonists ascend via magical aid, marriage, or cunning, mirroring Renaissance Venetian economic shifts and middle-class ambitions, as in precursors to "Puss in Boots."[5] Recurring motifs include animal transformations, enchanted benefactors, incestuous tensions, and erotic adventures, often framed within Carnival's liminal space that blurs social and gender boundaries, yet underscoring causality between virtue, fortune, and reward.[21][5] Scholarly analysis attributes these to urban literary invention rather than pure oral tradition, though evidence of pre-Straparola parallels in medieval and classical narratives tempers claims of wholesale innovation.[5]Fairy Tale Innovations
Structure of the Tales
Le Piacevoli Notti employs a frame narrative depicting thirteen evenings of communal storytelling during the Venetian Carnival on the island of Murano, where a hostess assembles ten young women, two male companions, and other guests in a villa to ward off the season's tedium."Donkeyskin" is a classic story about honor, lust, and love. After him are Charlotte of Albret, Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire, António de Abreu, Pir Sultan Abdal, Matrakçı Nasuh, and Pedro Damiano.