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

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.

童话的功能为何？这是一个颇具难度的议题。若童话历经数百年仍流传至今，则其必然曾履行且至今仍承担着某项特定使命。认为童话专为儿童创作或面向儿童的观点并不属实。本次待验证的假说为：童话是否可被视为社群为消解或克服被定义为‘在场危机（crisis of presence）’——即‘无法置身于历史之中的风险’（E. 德·马蒂诺）——的人类生存状态而开发并使用的工具。由危机时刻引发的在场缺失，会消解文化乃至人性本身。正如仪式与神话，童话或可为人类提供抵御此类风险的文化庇护。换言之，童话有助于使人类免于‘在场危机’。尽管意大利民族学家埃内斯托·德·马蒂诺从未涉足童话研究，亦未曾以‘在场危机’为视角审视童话，本文仍将借鉴其核心概念，尝试论证前述假说。本文旨在阐明：童话能否以及如何被视作应对‘在场危机’的工具——其立论基础为，童话能够使个体融入整个社群共享的意义视界之中。