African Diaspora at Internet Archive: When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote

Since yesterday's post included Diaspora stories and Native stories too (J. J. Reneaux's How Animals Saved the People: Animal Tales from the South), I thought that would be a good prompt for today's book: When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote: African-Native American Literature, edithed by Jonathan Brennan.

In the introduction, Brennan provides a detailed survey (almost 100 pages long!) of the back-and-forth between African and Native folk traditions: "Introduction: Recognition of the African-Native American Literary Tradition." There then follow two essays on African-Native American folklore:  "On the Interaction of Traditions: Southeastern Rabbit Tales as African-Native American Folklore" by David Elton Gay and "Brer Rabbit and His Cherokee Cousin: Moving Beyond the Appropriation Paradigm" by Sandra K. Baringer. The other essay sections cover captivity and slave narratives, Mardi Gras performances, and contemporary culture.

And if you are interested in learning more about the Rabbit stories of the Native peoples of the southeastern United States, this book is great place to start:

Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians

by John R. Swanton

Swanton was an anthropologist who worked for the Smithsonian (more about Swanton at Wikipedia), and this book is especially valuable for the way it cites multiple versions from Creek, Hitchiti, Alabama, Koasati, and Natchez storytellers. Just look at all these rabbits!

I guess the time has come for me to start assessing the "Brer Rabbit" literature and confronting the heavy (oppressively heavy...) legacy of Joel Chandler Harris. So, if that's what's going to happen here this week, I am glad to start off with this book, as it is a powerful reminder that the interplay of Native and African stories is an essential part of who Brer Rabbit became in the folklore of the United States.

When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote:

African-Native American Literature

by Jonathan Brennan