Fairy Tales: African American Folktales

African-American folktales are great examples of the process of adaptation that all folktales undergo. 

Despite the efforts of Grimm and Lang et al., there is no such thing as "pure" culture. Attempts to argue otherwise--once there was a pure culture and then it was corrupted but we can get it back--whether the argument is made by alt-right or alt-left theorists is balderdash. Humans like to make claims to stuff. But just because something currently seems tightly connected to a culture doesn't mean that it always ways. 

See chronocentrism here and here.

So "All God's Chillen Had Wings," a classic African-American tale, evokes elements from African tales, the condition of slavery in North American, and Christian texts.

Adaptation gives folktales their power--and their universality. They speak to a need to keep communicating, no matter what.  "Folklore," Hurston wrote, "is the boiled-down juice of human living."

I'm a fan of Zora Neale Hurston who began collecting African-American folklore before the Arts & Crafts Movement in America really took off--that is, she foresaw a need before it became popular. She took down tales in their "vernacular," respecting the tellers. 

One of my favorite collected tales by Hurston is "Mosquito Lies" where a "gnat" eats up  six-yoke and twelve-yoke teams! It drills through a cast-iron pot!

The exaggeration conveys the reality. If you've ever dealt with mosquitos in the Northeast and Southeast, you believe it! Though the image is from Alaska:

In addition, Virginia Hamilton, illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon, has produced several beautiful anthologies of African-American folklore (see above), including Her Stories.