1. Tales of Uncle Remus

2. Joel Chandler Harris Born 1845/8 to unwed mother in Georgia Poor, stutterer, shy and self-conscious Scant education, printers devil at local newspaper owned by Joseph A. Turner Turner owned Turnwold Plantation, where Harris first met black slaves

3. Harris spent time with slaves learning songs and stories, dialect 1866 Civil War and Turner’s business ended Harris moved through series of newspaper jobs 1876 worked for Atlanta Constitution until death in 1908 Contemporary and friend of Mark Twain

4. Uncle Remus works Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings (1880) Nights with Uncle Remus (1883) 6 more volumes during his life 2 more volumes after his death

5. Stories Wildly Popular Called “first graphic pictures of genuine Negro life in the South” “the First real book of American folklore”

6. Remus Character created by Harris based on people he knew Remus serves as narrator and provides continuity of tales Remus is elderly, former slave working for former masters Remus is non-threatening, especially to white audiences Remus is alter-ego of Harris (?)

7. Remus and the boy

8. Brer Rabbit Trickster in long folklore tradition (European, African, American) Representative of Blacks (?) Stories come from pre-1880 African- American tales, shaped by black artist under slavery Of 220 tales, over half have roots in African tales

9. Qualities of Dialect Word play Word coinage Authenticity to scene and character Poetic usage Humor Brer Tarrypin

10. Brer Rabbit and Miss Cow

11. Illustrations! Brer Rabbit And Brer Fox (1881 edition)

12. An American Community!

13. Brer Rabbit meets his match. Cf. Aesop

14. Most Famous: Tarbaby Tale

15. Issued in many editions since Harris’ death.