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Puss in Boots

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This article is about the European fairy tale. For other uses, see Puss in Boots (disambiguation).
"Puss in Boots"
Illustration 1843, from édition L. Curmer
CountryItaly (1550–1553)
France (1697)
LanguageItalian (originally)
Genre(s)Literary fairy tale
Publication
Publication typeFairy tale collection

"Puss in Boots" (German: Der gestiefelte Kater; French: Le Maître chat ou le Chat botté; Italian: Il gatto con gli stivali; Dutch: De Gelaarsde Kat) is a European fairy tale about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand in marriage of a princess for his penniless and low-born master.

The oldest written telling version Costantino Fortunato (Italian for "Lucky Costantino") by Italian author Giovanni Francesco Straparola, included in The Facetious Nights of Straparola (c. 1550–1553), in which the cat is a fairy in disguise who helps his owner, a poor boy named Costantino from Bohemia in the present-day Czech Republic, to gain his princess by duping a king, a lord, and many commoners.[1][2] There is a version written by Girolamo Morlini, from whom Straparola used various tales in The Facetious Nights;[3] another version was published in 1634 by Giambattista Basile with the title Cagliuso. The most popular version of the tale was written in French at the close of the seventeenth century by Charles Perrault (1628–1703), a retired civil servant and member of the Académie française.[4]

Puss in Boots appears in DreamWorks' Shrek franchise, appearing in all three sequels to the original film, as well as two spin-off films, Puss in Boots (2011) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022), where he is voiced by Antonio Banderas. The character is signified in the logo of Japanese anime studio Toei Animation, and is also a popular pantomime in the UK.

Analysis

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Tale type

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In folkloristics, Puss in Boots is classified as Aarne–Thompson–Uther ATU 545B, "Puss in Boots", a subtype of ATU 545, "The Cat as Helper".[5] Folklorists Joseph Jacobs and Stith Thompson point that the Perrault tale is the possible source of the Cat Helper story in later European folkloric traditions.[6][7] Similarly, Frisian professor Jurjen van der Kooi noted that variants from oral tradition were only starting to be recorded from the 19th century onwards, and tales from Central and Western Europe follow Perrault's and Grimm's redaction very closely.[8] In the same vein, French folklorists Paul Delarue and Marie-Louise Ténèze, editors of the French Folktale Catalogue, concur that oral variants where the cat appears as the helper (especially those in which he wears boots) were influenced by Perrault's tale.[9]

Motifs

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The animal helper

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According to scholars (e.g., van der Kooi, Hans-Jörg Uther, Stith Thompson and Ines Köhler-Zülch), while the cat appears mostly in Europe as the animal helper, variants across cultures replace the cat with a jackal, a fox or another species of animal,[10][11][12][13] like a dog, a rooster, or an ape.[14] German folklorist Köhler-Zulch noted the geographical distribution of the different animal helpers: a fox in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, as well in the Caucasus and Central Asia; and an ape, a jackal or a gazelle in Southern Asia and in Africa.[15] For instance, professor Damiana Eugenio remarked that the helpful animal is a monkey "in all Philippine variants".[16]

In the Hungarian National Catalogue of Folktales (MNK), in tale type 545B, A csizmás kandúr ("The (Tom)cat with boots"), the protagonist may be helped either by a cat or a rooster received from his father as his inheritance, or rescues a fox from peril (e.g., starvation or hunters), and the animal promises to help him in return.[17]

According to Swedish scholar Waldemar Liungman [sv], a cycle of tales that developed in Northern Europe involves the spirit of a dead man instead of a cat. This cycle is found in Denmark, Finland and Estonia.[18]

The fox helper

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French folklorists Paul Delarue and Marie-Louise Ténèze, editors of the French Folktale Catalogue, argued that the existence of variants with a helpful fox instead of a cat indicate an "oral tradition [that is] independent from the printed versions". As such, they locate such variants in, besides some tales in France, peninsular Italy, in Sicily, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Finland, Turkey and Mongolia.[19]

According to the description of the tale type in the East Slavic Folktale Catalogue (Russian: СУС, romanized: SUS), last updated by scholar Lev Barag [ru] in 1979, the hero may be helped either by a cat (Russian: кот), or by a fox (Russian: лиса).[20] Similarly, the Bulgarian Folktale Catalogue names type 545B as Воденичарят и лисицата ("The Miller and the Fox").[21][22]

In the Typen türkischer Volksmärchen ("Turkish Folktale Catalogue"), by Wolfram Eberhard and Pertev Naili Boratav, both scholars listed the variants with the fox as the animal helper under Turkish type TTV 34, Der Müller und der Fuchs ("The Miller and the Fox"), which corresponds in the international classification to tale type ATU 545B.[23]

Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz established the classification of the Mongolian tale corpus. In his system, the story appears as type 32, Der Dank des schlauen roten Fuchs ("The grateful, sly red fox"), in two variations: the fox replaces the cat as the protagonist's helper; the protagonist either hunts the fox himself and releases it (variation "A"), or he hides the fox from a hunter (variation "B"); in return, the red fox helps the protagonist marry a khan's daughter.[24]

Tales of the Caucasian Region also register the fox in the place of the cat. For example, Georgian scholarship registers tale type ATU 545B in Georgia, with the name "The Fox and the Peasant", wherein the cat is replaced by the helpful fox.[25] Similarly, in the index of Adyghe folktale corpus, a fox helps a poor carpenter to marry the daughter of a knyaz (lord).[26]

Distribution

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The tale has also spread to the Americas, and is known in Asia (India, Indonesia and Philippines).[27] Greek scholar Marianthi Kaplanoglou states that the tale type ATU 545B, "Puss in Boots" (or, locally, "The Helpful Fox"), is an "example" of "widely known stories (...) in the repertoires of Greek refugees from Asia Minor".[28]

Adaptations

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Main article: Adaptations of Puss in Boots

The saying "enough to make a cat laugh" dates from the mid-1800s and is associated with the tale of Puss in Boots.[29]

The Bibliothèque de Carabas[30] book series was published by David Nutt in London in the late 19th century, in which the front cover of each volume depicts Puss in Boots reading a book.

References

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  1. ^ W. G. Waters, The Mysterious Giovan Francesco Straparola, in Jack Zipes, a c. di, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p 877, ISBN 0-393-97636-X
  2. ^ Cristina Bacchilega; Danielle Marie Roemer (2001). Angela Carter and the Fairy Tale. Wayne State University Press. p. 24.
  3. ^ Opie & Opie 1974, p. 21.
  4. ^ Brown 2007, p. 351
  5. ^ Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. pp. 58-59. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  6. ^ Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. p. 58. ISBN 0-520-03537-2
  7. ^ Jacobs, Joseph. European Folk and Fairy Tales. New York, London: G. P. Putnam's sons. 1916. pp. 239-240.
  8. ^ van der Kooi, Jurjen. "De gelaarsde kat". In: Van Aladdin tot Zwaan kleef aan. Lexicon van sprookjes: ontstaan, ontwikkeling, variaties. 1ste druk. Ton Dekker & Jurjen van der Kooi & Theo Meder. Kritak: Sun. 1997. p. 139.
  9. ^ Delarue, Paul. Le conte populaire français: catalogue raisonné des versions de France et des pays de langue française d'outre-mer: Canada, Louisiane, îlots français des États-Unis, Antilles françaises, Haïti, Ile Maurice, La Réunion. Volume 2. Érasme, 1957. p. 345.
  10. ^ Uther, Hans-Jörg (2006). "The Fox in World Literature: Reflections on a 'Fictional Animal'". Asian Folklore Studies. 65 (2): 133–160. JSTOR 30030396.
  11. ^ Kaplanoglou, Marianthi (January 1999). "AT 545B 'Puss in Boots' and 'The Fox-Matchmaker': From the Central Asian to the European Tradition". Folklore. 110 (1–2): 57–62. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1999.9715981. JSTOR 1261067.
  12. ^ Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-520-03537-2. A difference is also made in the animal helper. Instead of a cat, very frequently there appears a fox, and sometimes even other animals. ... As one gets away from central Europe, the greater variations one finds from the literary version of Perrault.
  13. ^ Köhler-Zülch, Ines. "Puss in Boots". In: The Greenwood Encyclopedia Of Folktales And Fairy Tales. Westport, Connecticut; London: Greenwood Press, 2008. p. 794. ISBN 978-0-313-33441-2.
  14. ^ van der Kooi, Jurjen. "De gelaarsde kat". In: Van Aladdin tot Zwaan kleef aan. Lexicon van sprookjes: ontstaan, ontwikkeling, variaties. 1ste druk. Ton Dekker & Jurjen van der Kooi & Theo Meder. Kritak: Sun. 1997. p. 139.
  15. ^ Köhler-Zülch, Ines. "Puss in Boots". In: The Greenwood Encyclopedia Of Folktales And Fairy Tales. Westport, Connecticut; London: Greenwood Press, 2008. p. 794. ISBN 978-0-313-33441-2.
  16. ^ Eugenio, Damiana L. (1985). "Philippine Folktales: An Introduction". Asian Folklore Studies. 44 (2): 155–177. doi:10.2307/1178506. JSTOR 1178506.
  17. ^ Dömötör Ákos (szerk.). Magyar népmesekatalógus 2. Budapest, MTA Néprajzi Kutató Csoport, 1988. A magyar tündérmesék katalógusa (AaTh 300-749). p. 312.
  18. ^ Liungman, Waldemar. Die Schwedischen Volksmärchen: Herkunft und Geschichte. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2022 [1961]. pp. 151-152. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112618004-004
  19. ^ Delarue, Paul. Le conte populaire français: catalogue raisonné des versions de France et des pays de langue française d'outre-mer: Canada, Louisiane, îlots français des États-Unis, Antilles françaises, Haïti, Ile Maurice, La Réunion. Volume 2. Érasme, 1957. p. 345.
  20. ^ Barag, Lev. "Сравнительный указатель сюжетов. Восточнославянская сказка". Leningrad: НАУКА, 1979. p. 154.
  21. ^ Kotseva, Yordanka; Mitseva, Evgeniya; Daskalova, Lilyana; Dobreva, Doroteya (1984). "Каталог на българските фолклорни приказки (Предварителни материали)" [A Catalogue of Bulgarian Folktales (Preliminary Materials)]. Български фолклор [Bulgarian Folklore]. X (2). Институт за етнология и фолклористика с Етнографски музей при БАН: 92–93.
  22. ^ Kotseva, Yordanka (2002). "Вълшебните приказки в Архива на Института за фолклор. Каталог" [The Fairy-Tales in the Archive of the Institute of Folklore. Catalogue]. Български фолклор [Bulgarian Folklore] (in Bulgarian). XXVIII (3–4). Институт за етнология и фолклористика с Етнографски музей при БАН: 93–94.
  23. ^ Eberhard, Wolfram; Boratav, Pertev Nailî. Typen türkischer Volksmärchen. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1953. pp. 49-51 (tale type), 421 (table of correspondences).
  24. ^ Lörincz, Laszló. Mongolische Märchentypen. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadó; Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1979. p. 40.
  25. ^ Kʻurdovaniże, Tʻeimuraz et al. The index of Georgian folktale plot types: systematic directory, according to the system of Aarne - Thompson. Tbilisi: Merani, 2000. p. 54.
  26. ^ Алиева, А. И. (1986). Поэтика и стиль волшебных сказок адыгских народов (in Russian). Nauka. p. 29.
  27. ^ Thompson, Stith. The Folktale. University of California Press. 1977. p. 59. ISBN 0-520-03537-2.
  28. ^ Kaplanoglou, Marianthi (December 2010). "Two Storytellers from the Greek-Orthodox Communities of Ottoman Asia Minor. Analyzing Some Micro-data in Comparative Folklore". Fabula. 51 (3–4): 251–265. doi:10.1515/fabl.2010.024. S2CID 161511346.
  29. ^ "https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/enough+to+make+a+cat+laugh">enough to make a cat laugh
  30. ^ "Nutt, Alfred Trübner". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35269. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Blair, Graham (2019). "Jack Ships to the Cat". Clever Maids, Fearless Jacks, and a Cat: Fairy Tales from a Living Oral Tradition. University Press of Colorado. pp. 93–103. ISBN 978-1-60732-919-0. JSTOR j.ctvqc6hwd.11.
  • Kaplanoglou, Marianthi (January 1999). "AT 545B 'Puss in Boots' and 'The Fox-Matchmaker': From the Central Asian to the European Tradition". Folklore. 110 (1–2): 57–62. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1999.9715981. JSTOR 1261067.
  • Köhler-Zülch, Ines (1994). "Котаракът в чизми или хитрата лисица" [Puss in Boots or the Clever She-fox]. Български фолклор. XX (5): 20–32.
  • Mazzoni, Cristina (2019). "Changing the sex of cats: Considerations on tale type ATU 545, "The cat as helper, or, Puss in Boots" between Italy and France". Quaderni d'Italianistica. 40 (2): 7–24. doi:10.33137/q.i..v40i2.34876. ISSN 0226-8043. S2CID 234677738.
  • Neuhaus, Mareike (2011). "The Rhetoric of Harry Robinson's 'Cat With the Boots On'". Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature. 44 (2): 35–51. doi:10.1353/mos.2011.a440541. JSTOR 44029507. Project MUSE 440541 ProQuest 871355970.
  • Nikolajeva, Maria (2009). "Devils, Demons, Familiars, Friends: Toward a Semiotics of Literary Cats". Marvels & Tales. 23 (2): 248–267. doi:10.1353/mat.2009.a369116. JSTOR 41388926.
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