Imbriani, Vittorio
Imbriani, Vittorio (1840–86),Italian folklorist, writer, and literary historian. He dedicated much of his life to the study of Italian oral traditions such as folk poetry, folk songs, fairy tales, and folklore. He coined the term ‘demopsicologia’, which was subsequently applied to the new field of the history of folk traditions. His earliest works were collections of folk songs in various Italian dialects, compiled in Canti popolari delle province meridionali (Folk Songs of the Southern Provinces, 2 vols., 1871–2). Imbriani maintained, similarly to the Grimms and other romantic scholars, that these songs had their roots in ancient epic poetry; that they thus documented, in mediated form, the cultural ‘infancy’ of Italy; and that their study was a crucial part of the formation of a modern national culture. His most significant fairy‐tale collections are the Novellaja fiorentina...
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