Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore

By Alan Dundes

Book Overview

Exploring the scope, diversity, and vitality of black culture, here is a fascinating collection of more than sixty articles from some of the most perceptive and authoritative commentators upon the black experience--Zora Neale Hurston, J. Mason Brewer, Sterling A. Brown, Eldridge Cleaver, Willis Laurence James, John Lovell Jr., Langston Hughes, Charles W. Chesnutt, Alan Lomax, Ralph Ellison, A. Philip Randolph, Newbell Niles Puckett, Roger D. Abrahams, and many others.

Readers cannot help coming away from this book with a new appreciation of the nature and richness of African American folklore. For those with little or no previous knowledge of this heterogeneous and spellbinding lore Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel will be an eye-opening encounter.

Drawn out of the deep, rich well of African American culture, these essays convey the import of the black folk experience for all Americans. No library or individual with a serious interest in African American folklore should fail to own this remarkable anthology.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878054782
• ISBN13: 9780878054787
• Release Date: December 1990
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Length: 702 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Dr. LHRidley-I Highly recommend this book!

I use this book in my teaching of the African American cultural roots, heritage and legacy of Jazz. All schools should use it.

Sharp Wit in Folklore

"Mother wit" is a slang term in African-American folklore. It refers to the ability to use common sense in daily life. This book is an excellent collection of essays and articles that shows how folklore is related to the idea of mother wit. Dundes looks at stories, jokes, toasts, proverbs, song lyrics, riddles, and numerous folklore genres to analyze important issues in black history and culture. The "laughing barrel" refers to the ability to laugh surreptitiously at absurd, challenging situations. In this book's title and contents, Dundes' combines mother wit with the laughing barrel to provide insights into important themes in African-American folklore.