Fantasy storytelling. Literary echoes (Calvino and Buzzati) in Licia Troisi’s comic book series The Chronicles of the Emerged World

Abstract

The great passion for the fantasy genre and for comics of the author Licia Troisi is immediately perceived by reading her work entitled Cronache del Mondo Emerso. From the very first lines the reader relives images that seem to immediately take shape and dialogue. In the wake of this successful narrative test, the author then successfully dedicated herself to comics through the publication of Cronache del Mondo Emerso - Le nuove avventure di Nihal e Il Viaggio di Nihal  in comics. The comics are steeped in adventure, suspense, magic and sudden twists and turns; here the characters and in particular the protagonist Nihal, demonstrate courage, resourcefulness, dynamism and great temperament. The proposed analysis aims to investigate the connections and ways in which the adaptation in the form of a graphic novel of Cronache del Mondo Emerso fits into a broader context of narrative innovation and female representation. In this perspective, the investigation compares this work with other classics in the field, such as Dino Buzzati’s Il deserto dei Tartari and Calvino’s Trilogia, in order to highlight how these adaptations can contribute to redefining the narrative models and roles of female figures, even in the contemporary media environment.