Un racconto per l’infanzia fatto di colori: Isabella e l’ombra di Antonio Tabucchi
A Children’s Tale Made of Colours: Isabella e l’ombra by Antonio Tabucchi

Summary/Abstract: Antonio Tabucchi is one of the most representative authors of contemporary Italianliterature. His output includes a short story for children entitled Isabella e l’ombra, which wasillustrated by Isabella Staino and to whom the story is dedicated. Instead of relying on words to writeshort texts at school, the main character, a little girl named Isabella, uses colours and explains their chromatic compositions to the teacher. Undoubtedly, the writer’s pedagogical intention behind thisstory is for young readers to understand that literary expression does not occur only by writing butalso through images and colours that can transmit as many emotions as written texts do. Moreover, thetext, which can be considered a Bildungsroman for children, touches upon some topics visible in othernovels and stories by Tabucchi. This paper aims to analyse the way in which Tabucchi shares some ofhis existential ideas with a non-adult audience, particularly regarding the relationship between variousforms of language, the symbolism of colours, the power of visual communication, and the importanceof such feelings as sadness, affection, and generosity.

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