Br'er Rabbit and the tar baby, from
Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation,
1881
Br'er Rabbit (also spelled Bre'r Rabbit or Brer Rabbit) is a central figure in the Uncle Remus stories derived from African American
folktales of the Southern United States.
The stories can be traced back to trickster figures in Africa, particularly the hare that figures prominently in the storytelling
traditions in Central and Southern Africa. These
tales continue to be part of the traditional folklore of Bantu-speaking peoples throughout that region. In West Africa, the trickster is usually the spider (see Anansi), though the
plots of spider tales are often identical to those of rabbit stories.
Many have suggested that the American incarnation, Br'er Rabbit, represents the black
slave who uses his wits to overcome circumstances and to exact revenge on his adversaries,
representing the white slave-owners. Though not always successful, his efforts made him a folk hero. However, the trickster is a
multi-dimensional character. While he can be a hero, his amoral nature and lack of any positive restraint can make him a villain
as well. For both Africans and African Americans, the animal trickster represents an extreme form of behavior which people may be
forced to emulate in extreme circumstances in order to survive. The trickster is not to be admired in every situation; he is an
example of what to do, but also an example of what not to do. The trickster's behavior can be summed up in the common African
proverb: "It's trouble that makes the monkey chew on hot peppers." In other words, sometimes people must use extreme measures in
extreme circumstances.
The American version of the story is said to have originated among slaves at Laura
Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana.
Br'er Rabbit stories were written down by Robert Roosevelt, uncle of President of the United States Theodore
Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography, about his aunt from Georgia, that "She knew all the 'Br'er Rabbit' stories, and I was brought up on them. One of my
uncles, Robert Roosevelt, was much struck with them, and took them down from her dictation, publishing them in
Harper's, where they fell flat. This was a good many years before a genius
arose who, in 'Uncle Remus', made the stories immortal."
These stories were popularized for the mainstream audience in the late 19th century by Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote up and published many of the stories which were passed down by oral
tradition. Joel Chandler Harris heard the tales in Georgia. Very similar versions of the same stories were recorded independently
at the same time by folklorist Alcee Fortier in southern Louisiana, where the Rabbit character
was known as Compair Lapin in Creole French. The stories were retold for
children by Enid Blyton, the English children's writer.
The word "Br'er" in his name (and in those of other characters in the stories) reflects the habit of addressing another man as
"brother" in many African cultures. While modern Americans generally pronounce the second 'r' in Br'er, the original
pronunciation was "Bruh" or "Buh." When Joel Chandler Harris spelled "Br'er" with an 'er' at the end of the word, he was
indicating the Southern pronunciation of the final 'er' as in "brothuh" (brother), sistuh (sister), or faa'muh (farmer).
Br'er Rabbit in Disney's
Song of the South (1946). Disney's version of the character is drawn in a more humorous and
cartoony style than the illustrations of Br'er Rabbit in Harris's books.
The 1946 Disney film Song of the
South is a frame story based on three Br'er Rabbit stories, "The Laughing Place", "The Tar Baby", and "The Briar Patch". In contrast to character's depiction in the earlier illustrations of Frederick S. Church, A. B. Frost, and E.
W. Kemble, the Br'er Rabbit of the Disney film is designed in a more slapstick, cartoony style.[1]
The Magic Kingdom and Disneyland thrill
rides, both known as Splash Mountain, have a Br'er Rabbit theme. In 1975, the stories
were retold for an adult audience in the cult film Coonskin, directed by
Ralph Bakshi. A direct-to-video film based on the stories, The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, was released in 2006. A popular brand of molasses
called "Brer Rabbit" is distributed by B&G Foods of New Jersey.
Brer Rabbit also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for
meet-and-greets, parades and shows.
In 1981, American composer, pop lyricist and musical auteur Van Dyke Parks wrote a Broadway Musical based on the Brer Rabbit
Tales. It was offered as a pop album, but never produced.
The Tar Baby
The tar baby was a trap – a human figure made of tar – used to capture Br'er Rabbit in a
story which is part of American plantation folklore. Br'er Fox played on Br'er Rabbit's vanity
and gullibility to goad him into attacking the fake baby and becoming stuck. A similar tale from African folklore in
Ghana has the trickster Anansi in the role of Br'er Rabbit. In
Southern black speech in the 19th century, the word "baby" referred to both a baby and a child's doll. Thus, the expression "tar
baby" meant a tar doll or tar mannequin. The story was originally published in Harper's
Weekly by Robert Roosevelt; years later Joel Chandler Harris wrote of
the tar baby in his Uncle Remus stories.
Although sometimes misunderstood to be made-up, words such as "copperosity" and "segashuate" used in The Tar Baby are
representative of the African-American vernacular pronunciations of the words "corporosity" and "sagaciating."[2]
References
See also
External links
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