Favorite Uncle Remus

Rating:
Summary: Problematic Songs of The South
Review: Academics, folklorists, and students of American literature probably admire Joel Chandler Harris' Tales of Uncle Remus far more in theory than in practice, which is to say that these humorous folktales are probably generally much loved but little if ever read in their original form.

Produced during the second half of the 19th century, the 180 - odd short stories Harris created about Southern trickster Brer Rabbit and his animal fellows have an unmatchable post - Civil War pedigree rooted in the experiences and oral tradition of American "Negro" slaves. Indeed, the timeless stories, set in a plantation environment, are directly structured around "Miss Sally's" "little boy" and his visits to the cabin of the wise, tender, and loving elderly "Negro" storyteller, Uncle Remus, who is either a slave, a freed slave, or an indentured servant.

The tales, the most famous of which is "The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story," share one almost insurmountable problem. Harris chose to exclusively write the stories in what he felt was a good approximation of Southern "Negro" dialect, and thus, in The Favorite Uncle Remus (1948), readers are confronted with over 300 pages of nearly impenetrable sentences and paragraphs, of which "Den w'en it seem like de little Rabs, w'ich dey wuz mighty nigh forty - leb'm um um, is all gone ter sleep, Brer Wolf he crope roun', he did, en feel on de mantel - shelf, en feel, en feel, twel he come ter ole Brer Rabbit money-pus. Ef he want so light wid he han', he'd 'a' knock off de pollygollic vial w'at ole Miss Rabbit put up dar. But nummine! Brer Wolf, he feel, en feel, twel he come ter de money - pus, en he grab dat, he did, en he des flewed 'way fum dar," is typical.

As a result, though all of the tales are short and apparently comic, the clumsy, strained, and artificial nature of the dialect quickly grinds each to a frustrating halt. Rather than bringing an element of authenticity to the stories, the dialect not only feels unnecessary and condescending, but also buries and obscures any cleverness, wisdom, and sense of wonder and fun they may contain. Thus the process of absorbing the book becomes one of self - conscious deciphering rather than reading, and the world of Brer Rabbit and his friends remains stubbornly on the page. Very few adults are likely to persevere through more than one tale, and children and teenagers will probably find both The Favorite Uncle Remus and their effort to enjoy it unrewarding and counterproductive.

A strict academic reworking of the text into standard English usage would go a long way towards bringing Harris's achievement to a vastly wider audience.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic & For Good Reason
Review: I remember as a child sitting at my grandmother's lap and listening to her read me my father's worn copy of the Uncle Remus Tales and I fell in love with the way Brer Rabit outwits the stronger and faster forest animals: Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear. I loved it so much that I majored in English emphasising in Southern Literature in general and Joel Chandler Harris (the book's author) specifically. A note of warning however, the dialect in this copy is that of the antebellum slave dialect and it takes a little getting used to. But all in all a great book, which is unfortuantely overlooked in our politcally correct era. Too bad!

Rating:
Summary: EBONICA CLASSICA !
Review: My only exposure to Uncle Remus as a child came, sadly, from the cutsie cartoon by Disney. These are not light fairy stories of a zip-a-dee-doo-dah nature - they are paradigm stories that illuminate the human condition as seen through the clear eyes of a poor but wise old slave. You will not find self-esteem or political correctness here, but instead raw and ancient truth.

The real Uncle Remus of Mr. Harris was one of the most pleasant suprises of my adult intellectual life. These are timeless tales of the human condition that transcend any one place, people group or era. Some goes up, some goes down. Just one 'simmon more. When a big man like me wants a chaw terbacker whar he qwine to spit? Fate, greed, pride. These are themes worthy of a toddler's bedtime story, yet fit for the mature reader to ponder over a glass of beer. I read the three little pigs FOR my children. I would read Remus had I no children at all. The insights of Remus constantly remind me our the sayings of my own father, a white working-class man from upstate New York. The basic plot of "Agin the law" is told in rural Korea as "The man and the Tiger". It matters little if the man becomes brother rabbit and the tiger brother wolf, the insight into sinful human nature remains the same world over in authentic folk tradition before Freud and Darwin. Our age, so enamoured with recent myths like Gaia and a world before patriarchy, desperately needs the old wisdom. You can find it in Uncle Remus.

Yet as one should expect from such tales, the broadest universals are presented in the homey form of the most simple particulars. Read these outloud, and you will feel the pulse of the African-American slave. Feel his realism, his cynicism, his optimism too - but don't miss his healthy relationship with "the boy", who eats the stories eagerly. In a day when ghetto illiteracy is glorified as "ebonics", how ironic that the slave dialect is pushed under the rug. I ran accross a copy of the complete Uncle Remus - retold by some politically correct rapist of art who makes the slave speak proper English. Miss Meadows even becomes "miz", a crass perversion that is no mere update of Uncle Remus' grammar, but a shameless violation of his world-view. In Remus, the Sisters are miss or missus. They keep house while the Brothers garden, hunt, build and bargain. God keep us from ever returning to unjust slavery; but we could use a dose of the realism and stability that allowed old black slaves to speak with authority and wisdom - and allowed white children like Mr. Harris to sit as scholars of the philosopher-slaves.

Since I've had my boys, I've read lots of children's literature. This is the ONE book I wish I had had as a child. Read it often and with relish.

Rating:
Summary: EBONICA CLASSICA !
Review: My only exposure to Uncle Remus as a child came, sadly, from the cutsie cartoon by Disney. These are not light fairy stories of a zip-a-dee-doo-dah nature - they are paradigm stories that illuminate the human condition as seen through the clear eyes of a poor but wise old slave. You will not find self-esteem or political correctness here, but instead raw and ancient truth.

The real Uncle Remus of Mr. Harris was one of the most pleasant suprises of my adult intellectual life. These are timeless tales of the human condition that transcend any one place, people group or era. Some goes up, some goes down. Just one 'simmon more. When a big man like me wants a chaw terbacker whar he qwine to spit? Fate, greed, pride. These are themes worthy of a toddler's bedtime story, yet fit for the mature reader to ponder over a glass of beer. I read the three little pigs FOR my children. I would read Remus had I no children at all. The insights of Remus constantly remind me our the sayings of my own father, a white working-class man from upstate New York. The basic plot of "Agin the law" is told in rural Korea as "The man and the Tiger". It matters little if the man becomes brother rabbit and the tiger brother wolf, the insight into sinful human nature remains the same world over in authentic folk tradition before Freud and Darwin. Our age, so enamoured with recent myths like Gaia and a world before patriarchy, desperately needs the old wisdom. You can find it in Uncle Remus.

Yet as one should expect from such tales, the broadest universals are presented in the homey form of the most simple particulars. Read these outloud, and you will feel the pulse of the African-American slave. Feel his realism, his cynicism, his optimism too - but don't miss his healthy relationship with "the boy", who eats the stories eagerly. In a day when ghetto illiteracy is glorified as "ebonics", how ironic that the slave dialect is pushed under the rug. I ran accross a copy of the complete Uncle Remus - retold by some politically correct rapist of art who makes the slave speak proper English. Miss Meadows even becomes "miz", a crass perversion that is no mere update of Uncle Remus' grammar, but a shameless violation of his world-view. In Remus, the Sisters are miss or missus. They keep house while the Brothers garden, hunt, build and bargain. God keep us from ever returning to unjust slavery; but we could use a dose of the realism and stability that allowed old black slaves to speak with authority and wisdom - and allowed white children like Mr. Harris to sit as scholars of the philosopher-slaves.

Since I've had my boys, I've read lots of children's literature. This is the ONE book I wish I had had as a child. Read it often and with relish.