African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Black Folklore and Humor

Here's another wonderful book to finish up this week of anthologies: it's the Encyclopedia of Black Folklore and Humor by Henry Spalding.

Although the title suggests an alphabetical organization, the book is instead organized thematically and by genre, starting with testimony from slave times, followed by emancipation, and then preacher tales, songs, and poetry from the nineteenth century, and then humorous pieces from the twentieth century (the book was published in 1972).

There's a great quote here from Langston Hughes which gives a sense of the way that humor reverberates with African American culture:

The introduction is by J. Mason Brewer, the renowned African American folklorist who wrote Dog Ghosts and the Word on the Brazos and a groundbreaking anthology: American Negro Folklore.

Spalding was a writer who studied humor of different traditions, and you can find his other humor anthologies at the Internet Archive too: The Treasure-trove of American Jewish humor, Joys of Italian Humor, and Joys of Irish Humor.

So, 500 pages here to learn from, and also to laugh with. Enjoy!

Encyclopedia of Black Folklore and Humor

by Henry Spalding

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: African American Folktales

Since this is turning into the week of big anthologies, I wanted to share this excellent anthology of folktales edited by Thomas A. Green: African American Folktales.

This book includes many of the "classic" African American folktales, so you might recognize some of those titles here in the table of contents: How Jackal Became an Outcast ~ Terrapin's Magic Dipper and Whip ~ Why Dogs Always Chase Rabbits ~ Why Frog Has No Tail ~ Grandfather's Escape to Free Haven ~ The Little Finger ~ Rabbit Becomes King of the Frogs to Win a Wealthy Wife ~ Rabbit and Tar Man at the Well ~ Compair Lapin and the Little Man of Tar ~ The Pitch Boy ~ Red Feather ~ Clever Jack ~ Jean Sotte ~ Jackskin ~ The Elephant and the Whale ~ John the Fool and John the Smart ~ The Champion ~ The Marriage of Compair Lapin ~ Rabbit Rides Wolf ~ Brother Rabbit, Brother Booky, and Brother Cow ~ Brother Rabbit and the Bag of Gold ~ Brother Fox and the Foolish Jay-Bird ~ Brother Rabbit Brings Brother Fox Back from the Dead ~ Dog and Dog-Head ~ Compair Lapin and the Earthworm ~ Sis 'Coon Shows Brother 'Coon Who's the Boss ~ Owl and Blacksnake ~ The Son Who Sought His Fortune ~ The Seventh Son ~ Mathew Bones" Hooks, Cowboy ~ How the Little Boy Went to Heaven ~ The Water of Life ~ John Divides the Crops ~ Railway Chefs ~ Brother Rabbit Gets Brother Bear Churched ~ Human Weakness ~ Running Hand ~ The Irishmen and the Moon ~ The Irishmen and the Deer ~ Possessed of Two Spirits ~ Ridden by the Night Hag ~ The Hunter and the Little Red Man ~ The Friendly Demon ~ Courted by the Devil ~ Married to a Boar Hog ~ Wait Til Emmet Comes ~ Jean Lavallette and the Curse of the Homme Rouge ~ The Devil's Bride Escapes ~ Aunt Harriet ~ The Stolen Voice.

For each story, Green provides introductory comments, and there is detailed bibliography after each story too:

Green is also the editor of the other volumes in this "American Mosaic" series, including Native American, Latino American, and Asian American folktales. The Internet Archive doesn't have the Latino American or Asian American volumes, but it does have the Native American volume: Native American Folktales.

So, if you are looking for some old favorites or interested in broadening your knowledge, this big anthology is a great place to look. Enjoy the stories!

African American Folktales

edited by Thomas Green

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Linda Goss

After the anthologies by Alan Dundes and Daryl Cumber Dance this week, I wanted to share two more big anthologies, both by Linda Goss, also known as "Mama Linda," a renowned African American storyteller; find out more at Wikipedia.

Goss coedited this book with her husband, Clay Goss: Jump Up and Say! A Collection of Black Storytelling.

Goss co-edited this one with Marian Barnes: Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African-American Storytelling.

Like Dance's book, these anthologies contain a mix of folkloric and literary materials. Jump Up and Say! opens with moralizing tales, including both American and African storytellers (Amos Tutuola!), stories about slavery and freedom, stories about family and friends, rhythm talk, humorous tales, stories of protest and change, ghost tales, soul food stories about meals and memories. The book Talk That Talk starts out with a whole section of animal stories, followed by chapters on oral history, sermons, love stories, ghost, humorous stories, and finally rhymes and rhythms.

So, jump up and jump in: there are so many marvelous stories in these two big books, both just a click away at the Internet Archive!

Talk That Talk: An Anthology of African-American Storytelling

by Linda Goss and Marian Barnes

Jump Up and Say! A Collection of Black Storytelling

by Linda Goss and Clay Goss

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Honey, Hush!

After writing about Alan Dundes' Laughing Barrel book in yesterday's post, I thought I would share another anthology of humor: Honey, Hush! An Anthology of African American Women's Humor, edited by Daryl Cumber Dance. 

This marvelous book, over 700 pages long, contains all sorts of humorous writing from an incredible range of African American women writers. In addition to all the great literary works, there is also a lot of folkloric material too, labeled "Folk" in the table of contents, along with contemporary urban folklore in the form of "mimeographed items" without an author (in the world before email and memes).

You might also remember Daryl Cumber Dance from earlier books I had written about in this blog! Here they are:

Folklore from Contemporary Jamaicans

by Daryl Cumber Dance

Shuckin' and Jivin':

Folklore from Contemporary Black Americans

by Daryl Cumber Dance

From My People:

400 Years of African American Folklore

by Daryl Cumber Dance

All these marvelous books by Professor Dance are just a click away at the Internet Archive, thanks to Controlled Digital Lending.

Honey, Hush! An Anthology

of African American Women's Humor

by Daryl Cumber Dance

African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Mother Wit From the Laughing Barrel

I thought I'd start off this new week with a fabulous anthology edited by the folklorist Alan Dundes: Mother Wit From the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore, published in 1981.

There is all kinds of great material here; these are just some of the writers you will find in the pages of this wonderful book: Zora Neale Hurston, Eldridge Cleaver, Sterling Brown, Ralph Ellison, H. Rap Brown, Langston Hughes, and so many others.

The book is divided into these sections: Folk and Lore, On Origins, Folk Speech, Verbal Art (such a great section: proverbs, blues, dozens, signifying, toasts), Folk Belief, Folk Music, Folk Narrative (of course that's the section of most interest to me!), and Folk Humor.

So, you've got almost 700 pages of great material to explore here, just a click away at the Internet Archive!

Mother Wit From the Laughing Barrel:

Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore

by Alan Dundes