The foundation myth of Naples is here taken as the ethnographic field . Writing and poetry of an etnos and an ethos. Parthenope , the siren founder, is the source of this narrative corpus, the original frame that holds the deepest forms of the genius loci: the singing, the femininity , the beauty , the prophecy, the sacrificial death of the founder . The remote echo of the foundation myth has never abandoned the imagination of the city. The spirit of the siren continues to resonate in the history of Naples to the present day, reincarnated in the new figures. Like that of St. Patricia, the virgin coming from the sea, a feminine symbol of the baroque capital. A "Christian siren", elected patron of Naples in 1625, to whom the devotees continue to attribute miraculous powers such as the weekly liquefaction of the blood and the prophecy. This anthropological analysis shows how the figure of the saint is in fact the hagiographical trace of the cast of the mythical siren. An invention of its writers who rewrite the life of an anonymous young Christian woman by making it the heir of the imaginary role and narratives functions that had once been the exclusive preserve of the siren Parthenope . In order to activate a process of identification of the city with the patron saint, as well as to promote the political and religious activities of her order. Exploiting the full social and symbolic potential of the foundation myth. This second edition has also been expanded compared to the previous one, mainly due to the contribution of a text of central importance to the Neapolitan culture of nineteenth-century, entitled "Habits and customs of the people of Naples" , published in 1880. In this text, which is a paradigmatic recapitulation the foundation myth of Naples, Giovanni Emanuele Bideri confirms the hypothesis that St. Patricia inherited the etiologic role of Parthenope . Proving very clearly that the alternation between the saint and the siren was doxa populi . At least until the late nineteenth century, when this awareness fades. A "truth" that had once been shared, one of those that - as Ortega y Gasset said - everyone sees and that no one takes the trouble to explain .
Il mito di fondazione di Napoli viene qui assunto quale terreno etnografico. Scrittura e poetica di un etnos e di un ethos. Partenope, la sirena fondatrice, è la sorgente di questo corpus narrativo, il fotogramma originario che custodisce le forme profonde del genius loci: il canto, il femminile, la bellezza, la profezia, la morte sacrificale dell’ecista. L’eco remota del mito di fondazione non ha mai abbandonato l’immaginario della città. Lo spirito della sirena continua a risuonare nella storia di Napoli fino ai nostri giorni, reincarnandosi in figure nuove. Come quella di santa Patrizia, la vergine venuta dal mare, emblema femminile della capitale barocca. Una "sirena cristiana", eletta compatrona di Napoli nel 1625, cui l’immaginario devoto continua ancora oggi ad attiribuire poteri miracolosi come quello della liquefazione settimanale del sangue e della profezia. Questa analisi antropologica mostra come la figura della santa sia di fatto il ricalco agiografico del calco mitico della sirena. Un’invenzione dei suoi agiografi che riscrivono la vita di una anonima giovane cristiana facendola diventare l'erede del ruolo immaginario e delle funzioni narrative che un tempo erano state appannaggio esclusivo della sirena Partenope. Al fine di attivare un processo di identificazione della città con la santa patrona, nonché di promuovere le attività politico-religiose del suo ordine. Sfruttando a pieno le potenzialità sociali e simboliche del mito di fondazione. Questa seconda edizione inoltre è stata ampliata rispetto a quella precedente, soprattutto grazie all’apporto di un testo di centrale importanza per la cultura napoletana ottocentesca dal titolo Usi e costumi del popolo napoletano edito nel 1880. In questo testo, che è una ricapitolazione paradigmatica e periodizzante del mito di fondazione di Napoli, Giovanni Emanuele Bideri conferma di fatto l'ipotesi che santa Patrizia abbia ereditato il ruolo eziologico di Partenope. Rivelando a chiare lettere che l’avvicendamento fra la santa e la sirena era doxa populi. Almeno fino alla fine dell’Ottocento, quando questa consapevolezza si affievolisce. Una “verità” che un tempo era stata condivisa, di quelle che, diceva Ortega y Gasset, tutti vedono e che nessuno si prende la briga di spiegare.
LA SANTA E LA SIRENA. SUL MITO DI FONDAZIONE DI NAPOLI Seconda Edizione Ampliata
MORO, Elisabetta
2007-01-01
Abstract
The foundation myth of Naples is here taken as the ethnographic field . Writing and poetry of an etnos and an ethos. Parthenope , the siren founder, is the source of this narrative corpus, the original frame that holds the deepest forms of the genius loci: the singing, the femininity , the beauty , the prophecy, the sacrificial death of the founder . The remote echo of the foundation myth has never abandoned the imagination of the city. The spirit of the siren continues to resonate in the history of Naples to the present day, reincarnated in the new figures. Like that of St. Patricia, the virgin coming from the sea, a feminine symbol of the baroque capital. A "Christian siren", elected patron of Naples in 1625, to whom the devotees continue to attribute miraculous powers such as the weekly liquefaction of the blood and the prophecy. This anthropological analysis shows how the figure of the saint is in fact the hagiographical trace of the cast of the mythical siren. An invention of its writers who rewrite the life of an anonymous young Christian woman by making it the heir of the imaginary role and narratives functions that had once been the exclusive preserve of the siren Parthenope . In order to activate a process of identification of the city with the patron saint, as well as to promote the political and religious activities of her order. Exploiting the full social and symbolic potential of the foundation myth. This second edition has also been expanded compared to the previous one, mainly due to the contribution of a text of central importance to the Neapolitan culture of nineteenth-century, entitled "Habits and customs of the people of Naples" , published in 1880. In this text, which is a paradigmatic recapitulation the foundation myth of Naples, Giovanni Emanuele Bideri confirms the hypothesis that St. Patricia inherited the etiologic role of Parthenope . Proving very clearly that the alternation between the saint and the siren was doxa populi . At least until the late nineteenth century, when this awareness fades. A "truth" that had once been shared, one of those that - as Ortega y Gasset said - everyone sees and that no one takes the trouble to explain .I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.