THE MORAL ROLE OF FABLES IN 13TH CENTURY CASTILE: THE STORIES IN KALILA AND DIMNA

• Grant number: 24/00394-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Journalism
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Ancient and Medieval History
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Alves Teodoro
• Grantee: Roberto Caliani Janeiro Filho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/11111-9 - The teaching of the Christian faith in the Iberian Peninsula (14th, 15th and 16 centuries), AP.JP

Abstract

Fables, as well as other sets of narratives, written and translated in the 13th century Castile, represented a guidance, that sought the teaching of conduct, values, virtues, and beliefs. Works such as Aesop's Fables, Kalila and Dimna, Barlaam and Josaphat, have in their compositions the exempla, equivalent to short stories of moral nature, predecessors of the modern tales, which helped in the memorization and learning of both reader and listener through moral instruction. Therefore, there is a subordination of the exemplum to a didactic or edifying purpose, serving as a tool for the establishment and fixation of behaviors to be promoted in courts and popular preaching. It was upon the request of King Alfonso X that a large part of these narratives were translated from Arabic to the Castilian language and could be known in the Western region until today. This project intends to analyze the enriching fables of Kalila and Dimna in three podcasts to be developed in the project's scope. In other words, the main purpose of this study is to present to the general public - elementary and high school students, teachers, and everyone interested in fables - famous stories that marked the court of Castile at the end of the Middle Ages. To make it easy to understand, the fables will be translated and adapted so the target audience can easily understand them.