Book Review: American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore

Compilations of American folklore are constantly being rewritten to reflect the increasing diversity and variety of American culture. Many readers grew up with Benjamin Botkin’s classic collection A Treasury of American Folklore (Crown 1944), which featured a foreword written by Carl Sandburg and stories about Pecos Bill, Johnny Appleseed, Brer Rabbit and other popular myths, legends, and tall tales. Today, new legends are entering the folklore lexicon to reflect the influence of urban myths, historical events, science fiction, conspiracy theories, and mass media. This three-volume set offers a fascinating look at both traditional and newer folklore, including “Internet Hoaxes,” the “John Lennon shooting,” “Roswell,” and “Slender Man.”

Canción do Sur, ou como Disney transformou ao tío Remus no tío Tom

Na nómina de películas de Disney hai unha que chama especialmente a atención: Canción do Sur, que a compañía ten prohibida por racista. Esta adaptou os libros de Joel Chandler Harris nos que un escravo, o tío Remus, lle conta ao fillo da súa ama unhas fábulas animadas. O protagonista destas é Brer Rabbit, mito entre a poboación negra, a cal tiraba ensinanzas deste coello avezado que por medio do enxeño vence aos seus inimigos. Porén, na adaptación ao cinema, Remus, que nos libros goza dunha posición privilexiada na plantación e incluso ostenta certa autoridade, é un home dócil e sumiso, que só busca a felicidade dos seus patróns, e as fábulas dos animais aparecen despoxadas desa lectura subversiva.

Folktales and Civil Rights

This chapter examines African American folktales that teach the importance of strategic thinking and argues that they informed the tactics of the 1960s civil rights movement. It analyzes a number of stories where characters who do not think strategically are mocked and punished by events while revered figures skillfully anticipate others' future actions. It starts with the tale of a new slave who asks his master why he does nothing while the slave has to work all the time, even as he demonstrates his own strategic understanding. It then considers the tale of Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, along with “Malitis,” which tackles the problem of how the slaves could keep the meat and eat it openly. These and other folktales teach how inferiors can exploit the cluelessness of status-obsessed superiors, a strategy that can come in handy. The chapter also discusses the real-world applications of these folktales' insights.