Italian folktales in America : the verbal art of an immigrant woman /

Clementina Todesco, an immigrant from a northern Italian village, is the focus of this study and collection. The texts presented were collected by her daughter in the 1940s. Mathias and Raspa contacted Clementina 30 years later and interviewed her to discuss the cultural context and aesthetic influence for the tales both in Italy and the United States. For folklorists this analysis will be of interest, since it is a rare case study of a folk artist over a long period. The introductory material is extensive and competent but a bit flat, particularly in contrast to the tales themselves, which, though rewritten by their original collector, are indicative of a great verbal artist. On the whole this is an auspicious beginning for a new series. David S. Azzolina, Johns Hopkins Univ. Lib., Baltimore (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.