Session 9: “What Does Pinocchio Still Have to Tell Us?” taught by Daniela Cunico Dal Pra
July 27 and 29; August 3 and 5
10am – 12pm

From a mischievous block of wood to a global cultural icon, the story of Pinocchio is far more than a children’s fable. We invite you to a 4-part seminar series, “What Does Pinocchio Still Have to Tell Us?” where we peel back the layers from Carlo Collodi’s 1883 masterpiece through some most significant cinematic evolutions, adaptations and interpretations.

This series offers a critical analysis of how Pinocchio’s journey reflects the anxieties, the culture and the values of different eras. We begin with Collodi’s original novel, exploring its dark, subversive roots in post-unification Italy; we then trace the puppet’s transformation through the Silent Era with Giulio Antamoro’s 1911 surrealist vision; the Golden Age, with Walt Disney’s 1940 moralizing American masterpiece; then with the Modern Reinterpretations of Matteo Garrone’s 2019 return to gothic and dark realism and Guillermo del Toro’s 2023 dystopic exploration of disobedience and fascism* (if we can use the term). Together, we will examine themes of pedagogy, authority, citizenship, fatherhood, and what it truly means to be “real” in an ever-changing world.

Meet your instructor: Daniela Cunico Dal Pra is a Teaching Professor in Italian. Currently she is the coordinator and advisor of the Italian Program and Film Studies at UNC Charlotte. She teaches Italian language, including upper levels, as well as translation; she designed all the topics in Italian courses currently offered at UNC Charlotte. Since 2014, she organized and lead the Spring Break Study Abroad to Italy Program; in 2018 she initiated the Summer in Rome Program, in collaboration with the College of Arts+Architecture. She collaborates with the UNC Charlotte Honors College. She is interested in Italian literature and film, Italian history with special focus on Italian and Italian-American Mafia, Migrations across the Mediterranean Sea, Italian Business, and European Art History. She also works on the translation of memoirs and novels from Italian to English. She promotes the Italian Culture at UNC Charlotte and within the community of Charlotte by organizing cultural events (Opera, arts events, films and lectures). She cooperates with Casa della Cultura Italiana of Charlotte. Through this partnership, each year one student of Italian at UNC Charlotte receives a scholarship of $2,000 to study in Italy.