Would you believe me if I said that Uncle Remus reminded me of the preacher in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury? Well, the dialect did anyway. Of course the context is different, but the style of speaking is still similar. I love the Southern dialect and accent because I think it's simply mahvelous now. Did anyone try and read these stories out loud? I tried and ended up feeling like Scarlet O'Hara.
Other than the fun factor involved, trying to get through the language was challenging because of obvious reasons. But it was also a good reminder of the fact that language does become a strong part of identity with people. It's a cushion that they can hold on to and fall back on when times are changing from bad to worse. 'Nessa mentioned the "language thing" on her blog and the trouble she had getting through it because she's from the north. The difference in the way the language is presented stands between interpretation and reasoning because of the automatic road block that pops up in the mind.
My favorite line between the three stories, however, is the same one that Ashley mentioned in her post.
"N*ggers is n*ggers now, but de time wuz w'en we 'uz all n*ggers tergedder."
I didn't read racial difference into it as much as racial solidarity. It sounds as though Uncle Remus is talking about a golden age where relationships stood for some worth between people, and when people actually cared for one another without making them feel inferior. There's definitely a touch of the whimsical here.
Posted by NehaBawa at November 8, 2005 07:49 AMMy favorite story was the one about everyone clamoring to the pool. This creation story really did have a sense of harmony to it and for once, it seemed that even though Aunt Sally might have been watching, he let down his guard a bit and gave the boy a more desirable view on racial differences. In my class, Quinn Kerno mentioned that the first human skeleton was found in Africa, so we all came from the same land. Dr. Jerz brought up the fact that some people seemed upset that they didn't get to jump in quick enough, but to me this just symboled perhaps how sometimes being labeled a certain thing can be discouraging. What I loved was that the author wrote these stories to entertain and he may have had his own predjudice, but a positive side could be found in this story.
Posted by: Erin at November 10, 2005 10:09 PMThis stories were a good thing to read for us. But back when they were first told, they dealt with primiarily blacks giving each other power.
I was born in Virginia, right in Richmond. These stories are still told there, by blacks and whites. I think African-Americans (sorry, sometimes I let that Southerness get to me and call them blacks still.) have a better idea of what their about though.
But Neha, you are right, the dialect from the Sound and the Fury and these stories are similar, but the context is different.
Posted by: Lou Gagliardi at November 11, 2005 07:26 AMI think we get too caught up with the political correctedness of some terms and miss the history and the message behind them. On the other hand, I also think that identity needs to be held on to because we need to know where we've come from to know where we'll be going. It's hard to live a lost life. The beauty in taking pride in differences is when we come together and celebrate them. Don't you think?
Posted by: Neha at November 12, 2005 09:34 PM