Afro-American folktales : stories from Black traditions in the New World

by Roger D. Abrahams

Paperback, 1985

Publication

Imprint: New York : Pantheon Books, c1985. Edition: First edition. Responsibility: selected and edited by Roger D. Abrahams. OCLC Number: 11091159. Physical: Text : 1 volume : xxii, 327 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. Features: Includes bibliography.

Call number

Myth / Abrah

Barcode

BK-06962

ISBN

0394728858 / 9780394728858

Collections

Your library, Adult Materials, Root Religions

CSS Library Notes

Description: From the cane-fields of the ante-bellum south, the villages of the Caribbean islands, and the streets of contemporary inner cities, here are more than one hundred tales from an incredibly rich and affirmative storytelling tradition (Choice). Full of life, wisdom, and humor, these tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and got to be the way it is, to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They includes stories set down in travelers' reports and plantation journals from the early nineteenth century, tales gathered by collectors such as Joel Chandler Harris and Zora Neale Hurston, and narratives tape-recorded by Roger Abrahams himself during extensive expeditions throughout the American South and the Caribbean.

Contents:
pt. 1. Getting started : how the world got put together that way --
pt. 2. Minding somebody else's business and sometimes making it your own --
pt. 3. Getting a comeuppance : how (and how not) to act stories --
pt. 4. How clever can you get? : tales of trickery and its consequences --
pt. 5. The strong ones and the clever : contests and confrontations --
pt. 6. Getting around Old Master (most of the time) --
pt. 7. In the end, nonsense.

FY2015

Physical description

xxii, 327 p.; 25 cm

Description

From the cane-fields of the ante-bellum south, the villages of the Caribbean islands, and the streets of contemporary inner cities, here are more than one hundred tales from an incredibly rich and affirmative storytelling tradition (Choice). Full of life, wisdom, and humor, these tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and got to be the way it is, to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They includes stories set down in travelers' reports and plantation journals from the early nineteenth century, tales gathered by collectors such as Joel Chandler Harris and Zora Neale Hurston, and narratives tape-recorded by Roger Abrahams himself during extensive expeditions throughout the American South and the Caribbean.… (more)

Language

English

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User reviews

LibraryThing member soualibra

These tales range from the earthy comedy of tricksters to stories explaining how the world was created and (fairly or unfairly) got to be the way it is to moral fables that tell of encounters between masters and slaves. They include stories set down in travelers' reports and plantation journals

from the early nineteenth century, tales gathered by collectors such as Joel Chandler Harris and Zora Neale Hurston, and narratives tape-recorded by Roger Abrahams himself during extensive expeditions throughout the American South and the Caribbean. These elaborate, often exaggerated fictions were told by tale spinners mostly for the fun of it, but within them are embedded hard truths about dealing with the world of white people. They offer a robust, engaging demonstration of the ways in which an uprooted people have drawn from the traditions of their distant past to fashion a life - and with it, a new and vital culture - in the New World.

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