Curricular Resources > 1996 Volume III > Unit 2 (96.03.02) > Section 2

Race and Representation in American Cinema

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 96.03.02

Unit Guide

Using Film and Literature to Examine Uncle Remus: A Comparison and Analysis of the Film—Song Of The South

Felicia R. McKinnon

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Teacher Bibliography

Andrews, William To Tell A Free Story : the first century of Afro American biography, 1760-1865 Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1986. The biographies of former slaves in the United States.//

Carter, George E. and James R. Parker. Afro-American Folklore : A Unique American Experience. Selected Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Minority Studies. Wisconsin University, La Crosse, 1975. Excerpts used will be Marcella Howell’s examination of Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus figure. She examines the figure in the context of black folklore; Frank Suggs, Jr. describes a strategy for introducing black folklore and black music into the elementary school; and Etta Moten Barnett responds to the changes that in African folklore and music since the new geographical and cultural influences in America (since slavery).

Del Negro, Janice. “The Book List Interview”. Booklist . vol. 91 no.12: 1995. This article features an interview with Julius Lester on retelling tales of Uncle Remus, his approach to writing and retelling the traditional tales, and his intentions in the storytelling process.

Harris, Joel Chandler. The Favorite Uncle Remus. Illustrated by A.B. Frost selected selected, arranged, and edited by G.Van Santvoord and A.C. Coolidge. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1976. Favorite stories from many Uncle Remus books.

———. Uncle Remus : His Songs, his sayings. Illustrated by A.B.//

Frost. New York: D. Appleton. 1925. Legends and stories of Afro-American songs and folklore.

Joyner, Charles W. Down By the Riverside: A South Carolina slave community . Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. Describes the lives of African American in the New World.

Katz, William Loren. Breaking the Chains: African-American slave resistance. New York, Atheneum, 1990. Describes the harsh conditions under which slaves lived.

Lester, Julius. Black Folktales. Illustrated by Tom Feelings. New York: R.W. Baron, 1969. Twelve tales of African and Afro-American origin.

———. The Storytellers Voice: Reflections on the rewritings of Uncle Remus Tales. New Advocate vol. 1 no 3, 1988.//

———. The Tales of Uncle Remus. The Adventures of Br’er Rabbit. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial. Books, 1987. Tales of Br’er Rabbit retold based on the Uncle Remus tales.

———. More Tales of Uncle Remus : further adventures of Br’er Rabbit, his friends, enemies and others. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books, 1988. A continuation of the Br’er Rabbit tales.

———. The Last Tales of Uncle Remus. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books, 1994. Retells the final adventures of Br’er Rabbit.

———. To Be A Slave . Narrated by Peter Francis James, Lynne Thigpen, Michelle Denise Woods. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 1995. A compilation of facts, experiences, and situations of slaves and ex-slaves from the time of leaving Africa through the Civil War.

Levine, Lawrence. Black Culture and Consciousness : Afro-American folk thought from slavery to freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. A historical perspective of folklore in the United States and the attitudes toward the changes that took place during the Emancipation era.

Logan, C.A. “ Books in the Classroom” . Horn Book Magazine vol. 66 issue 6, 1990. An evaluation of the theme ’friendship’ and refers to Julius Lester’s reviving of Br’er Rabbit as a good source for teaching this theme.

Long, Richard A. The Uncle Remus Dialect : A preliminary linguistic view. Southeastern Conference on Linguistics, Florida State University, 1969. An examination of the ’creolized’ variety of southern speech—the middle Georgia dialect that Harris wrote the tales of Uncle Remus, and the representation of a popular dialect in the southern states.

Mixon, W. “The Ultimate Irrelevance of Race: Joel C. Harris and Uncle Remus of their time ”. Journal of Southern History vol. 56 issue 3, 1990. A profile of the believed relationship Harris had with an Uncle Remus figure in his life.

Nash, Evelyn. “Beyond Humor in Joel C. Harris’s “Nights with Uncle Remus”. Western Journal of Black Studies vol. 14 no 4, 1990. Questions the authenticity of Joel C. Harris’s folklore. Refers to the tales as fakelore. Reacts to the stereotypes and degradations of slavery.

Siegelson, Kim. The Terrible, Wonderful, Telling at Hog Hammock. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Oree’s grandmother encourages him to compete in the local storytelling contest. He has his grandfather’s gift for storytelling. Set on Sapelo Island-in a Gullah community.

Torrence, Jackie. Storytelling . Horn Book Magazine vol. 59 no 3, 1983.This professional storyteller encourages the use of Harris’s tales to introduce the art of storytelling.

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