The Annotated African American Folktales

by Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Editor), Maria Tatar (Editor)

Drawing from the great folklorists of the past while expanding African American lore with dozens of tales rarely seen before, The Annotated African American Folktales revolutionizes the canon like no other volume. Following in the tradition of such classics as Arthur Huff Fauset’s “Negro Folk Tales from the South” (1927), Zora Neale Hurston’s Mules and Men (1935), and Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly (1985), acclaimed scholars Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar assemble a groundbreaking collection of folktales, myths, and legends that revitalizes a vibrant African American past to produce the most comprehensive and ambitious collection of African American folktales ever published in American literary history. Arguing for the value of these deceptively simple stories as part of a sophisticated, complex, and heterogeneous cultural heritage, Gates and Tatar show how these remarkable stories deserve a place alongside the classic works of African American literature, and American literature more broadly.


Opening with two introductory essays and twenty seminal African tales as historical background, Gates and Tatar present nearly 150 African American stories, among them familiar Brer Rabbit classics, but also stories like “The Talking Skull” and “Witches Who Ride,” as well as out-of-print tales from the 1890s’ Southern Workman. Beginning with the figure of Anansi, the African trickster, master of improvisation—a spider who plots and weaves in scandalous ways—The Annotated African American Folktales then goes on to draw Caribbean and Creole tales into the orbit of the folkloric canon. It retrieves stories not seen since the Harlem Renaissance and brings back archival tales of “Negro folklore” that Booker T. Washington proclaimed had emanated from a “grapevine” that existed even before the American Revolution, stories brought over by slaves who had survived the Middle Passage. Furthermore, Gates and Tatar’s volume not only defines a new canon but reveals how these folktales were hijacked and misappropriated in previous incarnations, egregiously by Joel Chandler Harris, a Southern newspaperman, as well as by Walt Disney, who cannibalized and capitalized on Harris’s volumes by creating cartoon characters drawn from this African American lore.


Presenting these tales with illuminating annotations and hundreds of revelatory illustrations, The Annotated African American Folktales reminds us that stories not only move, entertain, and instruct but, more fundamentally, inspire and keep hope alive.


The Annotated African American Folktales includes:



Introductory essays, nearly 150 African American stories, and 20 seminal African tales as historical background
The familiar Brer Rabbit classics, as well as news-making vernacular tales from the 1890s’ Southern Workman

An entire section of  Caribbean and Latin American folktales that finally become incorporated into the canon
Approximately 200 full-color, museum-quality images

Genres: Folklore, Fiction, Mythology, Short Stories, Fantasy, Classics, African American

651 pages, Hardcover

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. is a Professor of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. He is well-known as a literary critic, an editor of literature, and a proponent of black literature and black cultural studies.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y'all I finally finished this damn book.

1 good thing about being newly unemployed is that I will have more time to read.

This is one of those books that make you feel smarter just by having it in your possession. Henry Louis Gates is one of my favorite Historians(Yes! I have favorite Historians) I am slowly making my way through all his books and documentaries. In this book he takes us through the history of African American folk tales. From its origins in Africa up to modern day African American folk tales. This book is a beast of a read. Its enormous in content and page count.

Highly Recommended!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that this is another excellent entry into Tatar’s stunning Annotated Fairy Tale series would be true and an understatement.

To say that it is at the high standard you would except from two academics of their standing would also be true and an understatement.

The collection includes stories from African because of their influence on African-American folktales, it tackles the complex, complicated, and damaging legacy of the Uncle Remus stories with detail and care, includes ballads (such as John Henry) there is material from Hurston’s collections as well as a discussion of her collection methods, variants from Caribbean countries and two photo collections.

And of course, it will add books to your tbr pile, or if you are like me, the tbr mountain range.

It would be fair to say that there are perhaps less annotations in this one in the other volume, though the introductions to each section make up for this. Yet the supplement material, including introductions and commentary on the various sources as well a chapter dedicated to quotes from writers about the influence of folklore upon them (including Jacqueline Woodson!).

The one thing I wish there had been was more of a discussion about the Brer stories. There is a version of the three pigs that appears in the Joel Chandler Harris collection (problematic I know) but it is quite clear in the story that the wolf is the slave owner (and the wolf dies). So are there instances in the stories where the symbolism of characters change, and if so how and so on. But to be fair, perhaps this book is not the place to examine such a question.

I did also wish they had been more Aunty Nancy stories, especially if she is a version of Asani.

Those quibbles aside, there is so much to unpack and learn in this collection. From the importance of such ballads as Frankie and Johnny to the Preacher tales to the purpose of a Tar Baby story.

I highly recommend buying the book in hardcover.

[Sasha]

Here's a super interesting NYTimes piece about this book.

[Doria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupendous and far-reaching, detailed and and multi-teaching, there is so much pleasure and learning on offer in this enormous treasure house! It’s a true coffee table tome, filled with extraordinarily poignant archival photographs, transcribed scholarly talks, reproductions of illustrations and children’s periodicals, transliterated oral narratives.... the array and variety of source types is dizzying.

Aside from the Herculean scholarly endeavor this represents, the power and poignancy of the content is what shines through. The stories are powerful, truthful, harsh at times, rooted in the lived experience of African Americans of all ages, genders and class. Far from being blended into a mishmash, the individual voices are reverently presented in their authentic settings, as closely as possible. This is revealed the complexity and diversity of African American experiences throughout the last few centuries.

There is so much that can and should be said about this wonderful book, but for now I will merely say, read it if you can. It is over 600 pages, and I savored each one, but even if you merely dip into it here and there, you will come away the richer for it.

[KD]

Chicago Tribune, September 2017, "25 Must-Read Books This Fall"

[Chelsey Saatkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a huge endeavor of a collection. It spans from the legends of African origin, like Anansi, to slave plantation tales, to those co-opted by white America, like the Uncle Remus stories (to which I admit I had a blind spot and had never heard of before.) The context surrounding each tale was incredibly helpful, as was the history of how different tales have been perceived over time.

I love tricksters always, so Brer Rabbit has my heart.

[Cayo Orlando Hern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great collection....and apparently the BEST anthology on it's topic ever compiled. I can't wait to see how the Uncle Remus stories are annotated! I loved the Disney movie but it's currently unavailable......and I've even visited the home of the author who wrote those tales in Atlanta. So far, the book hasn't disappointed.

[Tiara walls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will definitely be picking this book up again multiple times through the years to come. Beautiful stories. Some I've heard, others new. Very informative and well referenced. Grateful for such and extraordinary find.

[Belle Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful! I love to go back and reread sections again and again.

[Richard Mansel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's listed as 651 pages, but there's an extra 100 pages of introduction added to it. This massive volume is essential for those who love Folktales, but it's a big investment in time. If you take the journey, enjoy it.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The annotations are in a gentle res and off to the side, so they are easy to find but also easy to ignore (being a different color) if you want to read straight through. Some stories are heavily notated and others get nothing; it seemed a bit haphazard. There’s also a bit of repetition. But, overall, I enjoyed exploring this land of folklore and the critical thinking behind the importance of preserving and sharing folklore, especially that of African Americans.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did not read the whole book but studied some of them for a class.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Physically a beautiful book. Very thorough and dense and so many stories I wasn’t previously familiar with. Fascinating to trace the connections to European-origin tales.

[Robert Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection! Some of the commentary is a little obvious for those who've been reading folktales for a long time, but it's overall a great text!

[Katharine Holden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive collection and commentary.

[Cheryl]

Looked over, January 2020, but felt overwhelmed. Hope to try again someday. Recommended.
---
Tried again January 2024, read a few more, but still find it better for scholars and maybe African American families. I am glad that the OKC library system has it, though. I hope it circulates... the right audience would certainly love at least parts or aspects of it.

[Thistle & Verse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the selection of stories and there was a lot of informative history given. I felt like the annotations' helpfulness was hit or miss. I read this book all the way through and felt like the organization could have been tweaked a little, but it probably isn't intended to be read like that.

[Rafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spiders climb.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Mills College Library]

398.2089 A6152 2018

[Marilyn]

AFRICAN TALES
I. Making Sense of the World with Anansi: Stories, Wisdom, and Contradiction

II. Figuring It Out: Facing Complications with Dilemma Tales

III. Adding Enchantment to Wisdom: Fairy Tales Work Their Magic

IV. Telling Tales Today: Oral Narratives from Africa

AFRICAN AMERICAN TALES
I. Defiance and Desire: Flying Africans and Magical Instruments

II. Fears and Phobias

III. Speech and Silence: Talking Skulls and Singing Tortoises

IV. Silence and Passive Resistance: The Tar Baby Story

V. Kindness and Treachery: Slipping the Trap

VI. Joel Chandler Harris and the Uncle Remus Tales

VII. Folklore from the Southern Workman and the Journal of American Folklore
VIII. Folktales from the Brownies' Book.....