ClassicFolkIT · Investigating the Echoes of Classical Heritage in Italian Folktales

ClassicFolkIT is an interdisciplinary project combining Folklore Scholarship (FS), Classical Studies (CS) and Digital Humanities (DH) with the aim of improving the comparisons between international folktales and Greco-Latin literature in the Italian area. The project’s primary objective is to develop and implement a new research protocol using DH tools to identify the presence or absence of folktales with classical correspondences in a given area, to analyze the culturally specific forms that such folktales take in that area, and to facilitate textual comparisons between folklore and ancient literature.ClassicFolkIT addresses the need to determine the number and type of international folktales with known classical correspondences that have circulated in Italy, a central area of Greco-Latin civilisation which has not yet been investigated from this perspective. Recent studies suggest that scrutinising the Italian area could provide valuable insights into the historical and cultural evolution of some of the most enduring narratives in Western literature, shedding light on the elusive phenomenon of oral storytelling in the classical world. This research protocol combines global and local perspectives to examine regional variations in folktales and could potentially be expanded to other cultural and linguistic areas.ClassicFolkIT includes a secondment to a DH center to establish an open-access digital archive dedicated to Italian folktales with analogues in classical literature. This archive will be finalized during the outgoing phase at a renowned FS institute and will be used for research and dissemination purposes during the return phase at a CS centre specialising in the Anthropology of the Ancient World.ClassicFolkIT will have an impact on the linked disciplines of FS, CS, and DH, as well as on the fellow’s education and career. It will also have an impact outside academia, ultimately reshaping our perception of some of the most successful narratives of all time