In the arms of his wooden siblings: Towards a study of nineteenth-century Italian puppet theatre literature around Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio (1881–83)

This article explores the connections between Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio (1881–83) and nineteenth-century Italian puppetry and related literature. Through textual comparisons with works by Stendhal, Angelo Brofferio, Paul Ginasty, Pietro Coccoluto Ferrigni (alias Yorick figlio di Yorick, hereafter Yorick) and Corrado Ricci, I examine how Pinocchio reflects the fascination with puppetry that permeated late-nineteenth-century Italy. The analysis focuses on three key case studies: the motif of the hanging puppet in puppetry literature, which, I posit, resonates with the episode of Pinocchio’s hanging in Chapter 15; the depiction of distinct types of puppeteers, which I show are reflected in the characters of Geppetto and Fire-Eater; the technological innovations in puppet manipulation techniques in the last decades of the nineteenth century, which, I suggest, may have influenced Collodi’s conceptualization of an unruly, stringless puppet. Beyond these primary case studies, the article offers further reflections on thematic, linguistic and narrative parallels between Collodi’s novels and contemporary puppet performances and literature. By considering the interplay between fiction, non-fiction texts and historical puppet practices, the article sheds light on the ways in which Pinocchio engages with and reflects the puppet cultural milieu of its time.