Reading Notes: Brer Rabbit, Part A

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Brer Rabbit and Tar-Baby by Joel Chandler Harris (Wikimedia)



Reading Notes: Brer Rabbit, Part A

The Calamus Root:
  • I really like the use of dialect to characterize this story, it really gives it a nice feel that almost immediately makes the reader feel as if they are in the era these stories came from. It reminds me much of the style of Huckleberry Finn and the likes. I really like this dialect used, but with the historical context I would have to be very careful in trying to create my own. A better alternative I might use to mimic this kind of dialect is to try and recreate the dialect often employed by Mark Twain, something that speaks more to my roots 
  • I like the character of Brer Rabbit as a classic trickster for my overall Storybook, I think it would be really cool to see Reynard, a legendary European trickster, square off against a true American trickster. I also saw a number of mentions of tricksters in the Asian unit, so I might explore some of those next week to give Reynard the full continental gamut of tricksters. 
  • Interesting story plotline, I think it might be challenging enough to try and retell this with a different accent. Might also be fun to change up the plot so that Brer Rabbit gets more of a trick in on the Fox, easily replaceable with Brer Reynard as well. 

The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story:
  • This is a great instance of trickster games to bring in for retelling or Storybook .
  • Plot is essentially creation of tar doll to trick brer rabbit who has a long conversation with it. Hits it and hand gets stuck, interesting moral about rage. 
  • Rough ending where Judge B’ar may or may not have come to the rescue. For the retelling I think I am going to do this tale and add a scene where Judge B’ar comes in, I will probably have Brer Rabbit make it out of there with a trick.
Bibliography
Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).

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