African American Folktales: Stories from Black Traditions in the New World

(Paperback)

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Description

These 107 tales come from the canefields of the antebellum South, the villages of Caribbean islands, and the streets of contemporary Philadelphia. They robustly demonstrate the ways an uprooted people have drawn from the traditions of their past to fashion a life-and with it, a whole new and vital culture-in the New World.

Reviews

"Roger D. Abrahams is one of the preeminent scholars of African American vernacular culture."
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

"The text rolls along easily and amusingly. The rales are divided into typestrickster stories, moral example stories, old master storiesso that you can find the right sort of story for your taste or mood. Skipping about, in fact, is the way to enjoy the book and to appreciate the variety of background, tone, and narrative structure that it reveals."
The Atlantic

"In spite of the scholarly fullness of this book, the earthiness and zestful wit of the tales themselves are uncompromised ... Abrahams' thesisthat the black storytelling tradition is an incredibly rich and affirmative oneis well served by this extraordinary book, which is likely to become a standardtext in the field."
Choice

"Earthy and comedic .. . a rousing good read .. . I suspect Mr. Abraham's book will be read a generation hence."
TheNew York Times Book Review

"Another masterful addition and accessible introduction to the captured myths of what the Mede calls 'God's Chiefdom' .. . Sweeping across the continent . . . the juxtaposition of tribes and pacing of story lengths make for lively reading."
The Washington Post Book World

Author Bio

ROGER D. ABRAHAMS(1933-2017) was the Hum Rosen Professor of Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania, president of the American Folklore Society, and the author of many books, monographs, and articles on African American, Creole, Caribbean, and American culture.