Le fiabe come "antidoto" alla "crisi della presenza". Ipotesi sulla funzione delle fiabe

Abstract

What is the function of fairy-tales? This is an arduous question. If fairy-tales have reached us through the centuries, they should have fulfilled and still fulfil a particular task. It is not true that they were created or intended for children. The hypothesis to verify is whether fairy-tales could be considered a tool developed and used by communities to remove or overcome that human condition defined "crisis of presence", i.e. "the risk of not being-in-history" (E. De Martino). The loss of presence - caused by moments of crisis - negates culture and thus humanity. Fairy-tales, just like rituals and myths, may offer cultural protection against such a risk. Namely, fairy-tales contribute to preserve people from the "crisis of presence". We will try to demonstrate our hypothesis, by a key concept borrowed from the Italian ethnologist Ernesto De Martino, even if he has never dealt with fairy-tales and he has never examined fairy-tales through the lens of the "crisis of presence". Aim of this essay is to clarify if and how fairy-tales may be considered instruments to react against the "crisis of presence", starting from the fact that fairy-tales allow individuals to fit into the horizons of a meaning shared by the whole community.