Wishbone : reference and interpretation in Black folk narrative / Laura C. Jarmon.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Jarmon, Laura C., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• African Americans--Folklore.
• Tales--Africa--History and criticism.
• Tales--United States--History and criticism.
• Folklore--Africa.
• Folklore.
• Tales.
• Africa.
• Folklore--United States.
• United States.

Physical Description:

xxxix, 372 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [2003]

Summary:

"Wishbone: Reference and Interpretation in Black Folk Narrative follows African American folklore to its roots in African sources, bringing together a selection of narratives from both Africa and the United States and stressing their common bond and history. Laura C. Jarmon provides synopses of a number of African and African American folk tales, giving the reader a broad sample of tales with themes common to both cultures. Then, through analysis of form, language, and tone, she argues that black folk expression is modal, i.e., open-ended and tentative, a posture revealed in both the behavior and the discourse of the narratives' folk participants. By tracing the folklore to its sources, Jarmon seeks to correct nineteenth-century suggestions that African American folklore must have its origin in European sources.

Contents:

• Introduction: a modal discourse
• Tar baby: binding and transcription
• Good sense: duty and ambivalence
• Buzzard: faith and paradox
• Pots and hoes: working and saving
• The skull: presence and propriety
• Cursing: sanction and mood
• Conclusion: humor and the joker.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1572332735

OCLC:

51222173