Who is Joel Chandler Harris?
Posted by kathavarta on June 27, 2008
Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist born in Eatonton, Georgia who is best remembered for his Uncle Remus stories. During his work for a plantation newspaper-owner, Harris became familiar with many of the folktales of the black African plantation workers. He wrote the Uncle Remus stories, including Uncle Remus; His Songs and His Sayings. The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation. (1880), Nights with Uncle Remus (1881 & 1882), Uncle Remus and His Friends (1892), and Uncle Remus and the Little Boy (1905).
The stories, based on the African-American oral storytelling tradition, were revolutionary in their use of dialect and in featuring a trickster hero called Br’er (“Brother”) Rabbit, who uses his wits against adversity, though his efforts do not always succeed. The frog is the trickster character in traditional tales in Central and Southern Africa. The stories, which began appearing in the Atlanta Constitution in 1879, were popular among both Black and White readers in the North and South, not least because they presented an idealized view of race relations soon after the Civil War. The first published Brer Rabbit stories were written by President Theodore Roosevelt’s uncle, Robert Roosevelt.
The first section of the book consists of tales told by Uncle Remus, an old African, to the small son of the plantation owner. The hero of most of his tales is Brer Rabbit. The most beloved and best known of these tales is How Brer Rabbit Met Brer Tar Baby. Harris retold these tales with great skill and charm, using the dialect of the Georgia plantation worker, which he had studied closely.
Harris also wrote several other books for children, including Little Mr. Thimblefinger and His Queer Country (1894) and Wally Wanderoon and His Story-telling Machine (1903). The Bishop and the Boogerman (pub. 1909) is his comic novel for children.
Among Black American writers, Harris is a highly polarizing figure.
Harris stories in an effort to elevate the subversive elements over the racist ones. Apart from Uncle Remus, Harris wrote several other collections of stories depicting rural life in Georgia, including Free Joe and the Rest of the World.
In 1946, the Walt Disney Company produced a film based on Harris’s work, called Song of the South. While critically and commercially successful during its original release and re-releases, the fear of controversy has kept the film from North American release on home video.
Wren’s Nest, Harris’ home in Atlanta, Georgia from 1881 until his death in 1908, is maintained as a National Historic Landmark.
