About the turn up book's influence: L'allegro zio Bertoldo and Cent mille milliards de poèmes

Abstract

The following contribution analyses the existing relationship between some interactive works and harlequinades, a particular kind of interactive book, in order to showcase the strong influence of turn up books, not only in literature, but also in different fields.
In fact, the first part is a brief overview on the metamorphosis book and its features, detectable also in other works, such as Les jeux de métamorphoses, or some OUPEINPO creations.
The essay then focalizes on two particular cases: L’allegro zio Bertoldo, by Luisa and Mario Sturani and Cent mille milliards de poèmes, by Raymond Queneau.
The Italian didactic book allows us to furthermore depict the hybridism of interactive books, while its combinatorial mechanism enables us to showcase how the harlequinade’s structure conveys a historical implicit message. In this way, the interactive book (or game) exits the frontiers of children’s literature, underlining a denunciation for the WWII’s atrocities and, in particular, the bodies dismemberment, due to the bombardments occurred in that period. In this perspective, the simple and childish book’s atmosphere becomes deeper and even more interesting for the reader.

The second part focuses on Cent mille milliards de poèmes as an interactive book and its declared connection with Têtes folles, an example of a humorous harlequinade, by Walter Trier. By analyzing this French book, the article wants to highlight the importance of the combinatorial system and the paper structure (inspired by the turn up book) employed for this OULIPO masterpiece which combines the characteristics of the movable book with mathematics and poetry.