Br'er Rabbit

Br'er Rabbit is a fictional character, the hero of the Uncle Remus stories derived from African American folktales of the Southern United States.

Br'er Rabbit in Disney's adaption of Song of the South

The word "Br'er" in his name (and in those of other characters in the stories) reflects the habit of addressing another man as "brother" in many African cultures. Indeed, the stories can be traced back to trickster figures in Africa, particularly the hare that figures prominently in the storytelling traditions in Central and Southern Africa. These tales continue to be part of the traditional folklore of Bantu-speaking peoples throughout that region. In West Africa, the trickster is usually the spider, though the plots of spider tales are often identical to those of rabbit stories.

Many have suggested that the United States incarnation, Br'er Rabbit, represents the Black slave who uses his wits to overcome circumstances and to enact revenge on his adversaries, representing the White slave-owners. Though not always successful, his subversive efforts made him a folk hero. But the trickster is a multi-dimensional character. While he can be a hero, his amoral nature and lack of any positive social restraint can make him a villain as well. For both Africans and African Americans, the trickster represents an extreme form of behavior which people may have to emulate in extreme circumstances. But the trickster is not to be admired in every case. He is an example of what to do, but also an example of what not to do.

Br'er Rabbit stories were written down by Robert Roosevelt, uncle of President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography, about his aunt from Georgia, that "She knew all the 'Br'er Rabbit' stories, and I was brought up on them. One of my uncles, Robert Roosevelt, was much struck with them, and took them down from her dictation, publishing them in Harper's, where they fell flat. This was a good many years before a genius arose who, in 'Uncle Remus', made the stories immortal."

These stories were popularized for the mainstream audience in the late 19th century by Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote up and published many of the stories which were passed down by oral tradition. Joel Chandler Harris heard the tales in Georgia. Very similar versions of the same stories were recorded independently at the same time by folklorist Alcee Fortier in southern Louisiana, where the Rabbit character was known as Compair Lapin in Creole French.

The stories were retold for children by Enid Blyton, the English children's writer.

While modern Americans generally pronounce the second 'r' in Br'er, the original pronunciation was "Bruh" or "Buh." When Joel Chandler Harris spelled "Br'er" with an 'er' at the end of the word, he was indicating the Southern pronunciation of the final 'er' as in "brothuh" (brother), sistuh (sister), or faa'muh (farmer).

The Disney film Song of the South was based on the Br'er Rabbit stories, including these:
* The Laughing Place
* The Tar Baby
* The Briar Patch

The Magic Kingdom and Disneyland thrill rides, both known as Splash Mountain have a Br'er Rabbit theme.

In 1975, the stories were retold for an adult audience in the cult film Coonskin, directed by Ralph Bakshi.

A direct-to-video film based on the stories, The Adventures of Brer [sic] Rabbit, was released in 2006.

The Tar Baby

The tar baby was a trap used to capture Br'er Rabbit in a story which is part of American plantation folklore. Br'er Fox played on Br'er Rabbit's vanity and gullibility to goad him into attacking the fake baby and becoming stuck. A similar tale from African folklore in Ghana has the trickster Anansi in the role of Br'er Rabbit.

In Southern black speech in the 19th century, the word "baby" referred to both a baby and a child's "doll." Thus, the expression "tar baby" meant a tar doll or tar mannequin.

The story was originally published in Harper's Weekly by Robert Roosevelt of Sayville, New York.

Years later Joel Chandler Harris wrote of the tar baby in his Uncle Remus stories.

This story is credited with the invention of the word "segashuate."

External links

* One telling of the Tar Baby story
* Robert Roosevelt's Brer Rabbit Stories
* Theodore Roosevelt autobiography on Brer Rabbit and his Uncle
* Inducks' index of Disney comic stories featuring Br'er Rabbit