Dwarves and Frog Boys: The Loneliness of Italian Freaks
Abstract
Physical disability is a deep-rooted theme in 19th- and 20th- century Italian popular culture, where there is no shortage of examples of human beings with malformations exhibited for entertainment in circuses, carnivals, and fairs, more or less faithfully described in literature and comics. The so-called freaks are approached ambivanlently, mostly portrayed as solitary and desperate (even though the realms of the travelling show does not seem to be more degrading than the "ordinary" one). Exploited and on display in sideshows, freaks become a source of outrage or astonishment, sometimes even inspiration, yet they are generally met with reluctance by society. On the trail of real and imaginary freaks, this contribution sifts through pages of news dedicated to the narration of "natural monstrosities" as well as some works of fiction (Landolfi, Pedrocchi, Albertarelli and Gherlizza, Crovi, Verga) that have addressed the topic from multiple perspectives.
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