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Fairy Tales in Italy and France: Searches

French and Italian fairy tales written between 1550 and 1750: connections to each other and to contemporary fairy tales literature, film, and the arts

Searching in the Library's Catalog

You probably are familiar with searches on Google and other search platforms. When you make searches in the Library's Catalog think of keywords or phrases related to your topic of interest and combine these terms according to your needs.

Example: 

If you are looking for a film adaptation of Cinderella your search may look like this:

  • Cinderella OR "La Cenerentola" AND videorecording
  • Sleeping beauty streaming video

If you are looking for a fairy tale adaptation for youth or teen literature, your search may look like this:

  • Sleeping beauty Juvenile works
  • Sleeping beauty retold
  • Sleeping beauty graphic novel

If you are looking for a fairy tale adaptation to a dramatic performance work such as an opera, your search may look like this:

  • fairy tale opera (general search)
  • sleeping beauty opera (specific search)

 

Using Keywords and Subject Headings to Expand Your Search

Keywords and related terms are nouns and noun-phrases connected to your research topic. You may use one or more keywords when you are looking for information. Keywords will help you:

  • Find information
  • Limit your search
  • Filter your search

When you find a book, article, or other material that you like, see its bibliographic record and pay attention to the subject heading listing, which will help you expand your research. 

Explore these subject headings:

Fairy tales
Fairy tales -- France
Tales -- Italy
Fairy tales -- Italy
Fairy tales -- Italy -- History and criticism
Fairy tales in literature
Fairy tales in motion pictures
Fairy tales -- Film adaptations
Fairy tales -- Social aspects
Fairy tales -- History and criticism
Fairy tales Criticism, interpretation
Sleeping beauty (Choreographic work)
 

Fairy tales related terms: traditions, versions, adaptations, tale collections, film, painting, story, legend, fable, fantasy, folklore, narrative, parable, tall tale, female heroines, witches, incestuos fathers, persecuted maidens, dragon slayers, heroes, magical creatures, beasts, fairy-tale fools, fantastic, magic, fictional, allegorical, G.F. Straparola, Charles Perrault, Giambattista Basile, Angela Carter, Madame Murat, Girolamo Bargagli, Boccaccio, Madame D'Aulnoy, and Mateo Garrone.

Find more information on Search Terms

Connecting Keywords with Boolean Search

Use Boolean operators for information on databases or universities' online catalogs.

AND: Use AND when you want all the search terms to appear in each result from your search.
OR: Use OR to indicate you are interested in one term or search phrase, or the other, or both.
NOT: use NOT to exclude search terms or phrases

 

Examples:

  • Straparola AND fairytale AND analysis
  • "Le petit chaperon rouge" OR "Little Red Riding Hood"
  • Bluebeard AND Metaphrog NOT Perrault
  • "French fairy tale" AND symbolism
  • "Italian fairy tale" AND moral*
  • fairy tale AND film NOT Disney
  • Pinocchio AND Collodi  AND "the Adventures of Buratino"

 

In the example above: Bluebeard AND Metaphrog NOT Perrault, you note you want the retold by Metaphrog and not the tale written by Charles Perrault.

 

The asterisk (*) you find at the end of the word "moral" tells the system to find all the variations of the word "moral = morality, moralism, moral, morals.