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Paper short abstract

This paper argues that Emma Perodi’s Novelle della nonna (1892–93) reflects the ecological ideas of George Perkins Marsh. By linking Perodi’s landscapes to Marsh’s environmental thought, I propose a “fairy-tale ecology” that reimagines forests as sites of ethical human–nonhuman relations.

Paper long abstract

The goal of this paper is to explore the connection between the lives of Emma Perodi and George Perkins Marsh, the U.S. ambassador to Italy in the late nineteenth century and who has been termed the first environmentalist. According to the recently published epistolary, it is known that Perodi knew Marsh’s wife. The conjecture of this paper lies in speculating on the relationship between Perodi and George Perkins Marsh. I argue that Marsh has influenced Perodi’s writing, and that this is visible in her fairy-tale collection Le novelle della nonna (1892-93). Although such connection cannot be verified, there are traces of Marsh’s though, particularly in his Man and Nature (1864), that are reworked in Perodi’s collection. Following these ideas, Perodi infused the Tuscan landscape of her stories with principles on how to interact with the natural world.

This reinterpretation of a mode of living within the natural world not only helps us rethink the role of Emma Perodi, but it can also be used to promote a notion of “fairy-tale ecology,” that is, a particular use of fairy-tale magic and wonder to renegotiate the role of human-nonhuman relationships. This way, fairy tales can be considered pedagogical tools that inform and instruct readers in a more ethical approach to the natural world, emphasizing coexistence and collaboration with all entities, human and not.