Cenerentola attraverso il caleidoscopio: il discorso multiculturale nella tradizione anglofona

In his introduction to Marian Roalfe Cox’s 1893 investigation, Andrew Lang observes that “[t]he märchen is a kaleidoscope: the incidents are the bits of coloured glass. Shaken, they fall into a variety of attractive forms; some forms are fitter than others, survive more powerfully, and are more widely spread.” And indeed, the kaleidoscope metaphor seems most apt to describe each new incarnation that the Cinderella tale takes on, through the ages and across the globe, with the repetition of identical or similar elements, somehow providing fresh insight and renewed inspiration. Today’s Cinderella comes to us through a long and varied history with no single writer, be it Basile, Perrault, the Grimm brothers or more anonymous story-tellers, being able to lay claim to her origins. As with most fairytales, so Cinderella’s roots stretch back to the oral tradition of folktales, with different versions appearing in most parts of the world, handed down from one generation to the next, travelling from one locale to another, absorbing influences and being shaped by them. Whether we classify these variations according to the types outlined by Aarne and Thompson (more recently revised by Uther) or Propp’s functions, certain constants continue to emerge and it is the repositioning of these traditional elements within new contexts, including modern media, that create the vast intertext that Cinderella has become, giving rise to new social discourses, more appropriate to modern, multicultural constituencies. This paper will analyse a number of contemporary retellings available today to an English-speaking audience. The constituency towards which the majority of these texts is aimed is that of young children who are either still being read to or who are moving their first steps towards becoming independent readers themselves. They reflect the international character of the Cinderella story but are also a clear indicator of the multicultural appeal for their young readership (but also for the parents and educators who ultimately choose these texts) : versions include Anklet for a Princess: a Cinderella story from India, Adelita: a Mexican Cinderella story, each with their localised cultural elements (Cinduri carries water pots on her head and feeds rice to the peacocks and green parrots in the former, while Adelita eats beans and tortilla and the accompanying illustrations show a crucifix on the wall in the latter) or Sootface: an Ojibwa Cinderella story with Native Canadian elements such as the cooking of deer meat or the sought-after Prince role taken on by a mighty, invisible warrior.

Nella sua introduzione all’indagine sulle fiabe Cinderella 'Three Hundred and Forty-five Variants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap o’Rushes' di Marian Roalfe Cox del 1893, lo studioso Andrew Lang osserva che «il märchen è un caleidoscopio: gli avvenimenti sono i pezzetti di vetro colorato. Una volta agitati, si dispongono in una varietà di forme affascinanti; alcune forme, più adatte di altre, sopravvivono con più forza e si diffondono con maggior successo»1. La metafora del caleidoscopio sembra particolarmente calzante per descrivere ogni nuova incarnazione della fiaba di Cenerentola, negli anni e attraverso il mondo intero, con la ripetizione di elementi identici o simili tra loro, che di volta in volta creano una prospettiva nuova. Il racconto, in molte sue varianti, è presente in tante culture, dall’Africa all’Asia, attraversa i secoli, fra tradizioni orali e scritte, spostandosi all’interno di diversi media compresi la musica, l’opera lirica, la danza e il cinema, cosicché diventa quasi impossibile catalogare ogni singola versione. Questo contributo non vuole fornire una ricostruzione diacronica delle origini e della diffusione della fiaba di Cenerentola ma piuttosto uno “scatto” sincronico delle diverse versioni disponibili oggi per il pubblico di giovani lettori anglofoni. La scelta disponibile sul mercato è davvero sconfinata e risponde alle esigenze di tutte le età e delle diverse capacità di lettura, inoltre la maggior parte dei volumi viene anche integrata e arricchita da contributi artistici originali.