African American Folktales

African American Folktales

African American folktales were ways of experiencing ideas, emotions and stories. It was illegal for slaves to talk to each other so they used metaphorical characters to relate to themselves. The most common character was the rabbit that was thought to always be able to trick anyone bigger and stronger than its opponent. By writing these stories, formal slaves were able to give us a great amount of their history.

African American folktales were considered as a wonderful work of art. This is because even though there is no evidence that slaves actually created these stories, it really seems like they did because of the unique dialect. Anyways, as I said before, they had the courage to kind of forget their problems and know there is a life they need to fulfill ahead of them. This really shows that creativity can overcome the oppression given by the slave master.

The folktales were acted out just to be more entertaining to the audience. A folklorist said” The ones who can spread the word the most effectively should be able to walk that walk and talk dat talk”. This means you should really be able to grab the attention of the audience. One important key thing was the mask. The mask usually consisted of detailed designs which were usually able to tell a story themselves. Another key thing was the costumes they used. It would have a blend of certain colors which would go very well with the scene. Along with the visual, the storyteller would need to have some kind of beat to emphasize the plot. E.g. If someone is running away in fright, the drums would be beaten very fast. The drum was the most common instrument because it is believed that the beatings of the drum represents the heartbeat of Africa.

Folktales are stories that are orally told. The reason to why this is so is because most Africans were nomads. This means they were always traveling in search of food and land. Since they couldn’t carry a lot of stuff, it didn’t make sense for them to write their stories down. Since the ancestors of African Americans were originally Africans, they felt that they should follow the customs of their ancestors. On top of that, by orally telling th

There are some general thingds that all African American folktqales should have. It is thought that it should even be able to inspire the unborn babies.

Bibliography

www.questia.com

Myths, Legends, and Folktales of America: An Anthology

by David Leeming, Jake Page. 228 pgs.

Deep Down in the Jungle: Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia

by Roger D. Abrahams. 278 pgs.

...in the jungle... Negro Narrative Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia...Golden Log Publication XXX of the Texas Folklore Society , The Texas Studies in Literature and...

Juneteenth