The (Difficult) Rehabilitation of the Fairy-tale Villain

Abstract

Questo articolo esplora quello che succede da un punto di vista cognitivo quando i lettori affrontano riscritture di fiabe in cui ‘il cattivo’ è un personaggio a tutto tondo rispetto al testo originale. I testi qui presentati – i romanzi di Donna Jo Napoli, The Magic Circle e Zel e il film di Disney Maleficent – sono incentrati su uno dei cattivi per eccellenza – la strega. L’articolo sostiene che queste streghe innescano un coinvolgimento del lettore che va al di là dell’attivazione degli schemi generici tipici del personaggio strega, creando un’esperienza di lettura più profonda, che mobilita il repertorio esperienziale dei lettori. Tale mobilitazione si esplicita in una riorganizzazione cognitiva che implica l’attribuzione di una coscienza e la sua simulazione – ingredienti, questi, necessari per un coinvolgimento etico da parte del lettore.

DOI: 10.17456/SIMPLE-134

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