The Great Literary Improvisers
The Great Literary Improvisers

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the principles and philosophy behind the art of improvising derived from the theory of improvisational theatre. The aim is to heuristically apply a typology of theatrical improvisation to the literary works of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature in order to position the authors and the works of the Golden Age within the body, as well as to locate the Croatian 1913 classic Čudnovate zgode šegrta Hlapića [The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy] by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić within this defining era of children’s literature. Due to the fact that improvisation is based on storytelling and that literature is reportedly conceived through images, this research aims to provide evidence that The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy, much like the most prominent works of the Golden Age, is a superb example of the improvisatory process characterized by “bodily poeticizing” as defined by Lockford and Pelias (2004). The result of this creative process is the endurance, universality and adaptability of the works of the Golden Age, such as The Brave Adventures of a Shoemaker’s Boy.

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