Beatrix Potter’s Contribution to Children’s Literature between Reality and Narrative Representation

The paper intends to deepen the artistic and authorial contribution of the British illustrator Beatrix Potter not only to works, poetics and stylistic elements, but also, in parallel, to the existential level since, over the years and in the socio-cultural context in which she lived, she embodied a model of an independent woman, able to emerge from the conflict between social norms and aspirations and to become an emblem of a culture of resistance and otherness that finds its natural and happy expression and continuation in the wide and varied sphere of children’s literature. Therefore, in conclusion, the key elements are enucleated, which are open and can be deepened, aimed at underlining, in the author’s human and literary testimony, the character of originality and the innovative scope of the work.

L’articolo intende approfondire il contributo artistico e autoriale dell’illustratrice britannica Beatrix Potter non soltanto rispetto a opere, poetica e stilemi, ma anche, parallelamente, sul piano esistenziale poiché incarnò, negli anni e nel contesto socio-culturale in cui visse, un modello di donna indipendente, capace di emergere dal conflitto tra norme sociali e aspirazioni e di farsi emblema di una cultura altra che trova una sua naturale e felice espressione nella letteratura per l’infanzia. Quindi si enucleano, in conclusione, gli elementi nodali, aperti e suscettibili di approfondimenti, volti a sottolineare, nella testimonianza umana e letteraria, il carattere di originalità e la portata innovativa dell’opera.