Br'er Rabbit

Br'er Rabbit /ˈbrɛər/ (Brother Rabbit), also spelled Bre'r Rabbit or Brer Rabbit, is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States. He is a trickster who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, provoking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit. Popularly known adaptions are by Joel Chandler Harris in the 19th century, and later The Walt Disney Company adapted it for its 1946 animated motion picture Song of the South.

Br'er Rabbit's dream, from Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, 1881
"Brer Rabbit" redirects here. For the musician, see Flobots.
Br'er Rabbit
Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, drawing by E. W. Kemble from "The Tar-Baby", by Joel Chandler Harris, 1904
First appearance19th century
Created byTraditional, Robert Roosevelt, Joel Chandler Harris, Alcée Fortier
Voiced byJohnny Lee (Song of the South and Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party[1])
James Baskett (The Laughing Place sequence in Song of the South[2])
Art Carney (Walt Disney's Song Parade from Disneyland[3])
Jess Harnell (1989-Present)
Nick Cannon (2006 adaptation)
In-universe information
AliasRiley, Compair Lapin
SpeciesRabbit
GenderMale
OccupationTrickster

African origins

The Br'er Rabbit stories can be traced back to trickster figures in Africa, particularly the hare that figures prominently in the storytelling traditions in West, Central, and Southern Africa. These tales continue to be part of the traditional folklore of numerous peoples throughout those regions. In the Akan traditions of West Africa, the trickster is usually the spider Anansi, though the plots in his tales are often identical with those of stories of Br'er Rabbit.[4] However, Anansi does encounter a tricky rabbit called "Adanko" (Asante-Twi to mean "Hare") in some stories. The Jamaican character with the same name "Brer Rabbit", is an adaptation of the Ananse stories of the Akan people.[5]

The African savanna hare (Lepus microtis) found all over sub-Saharan Africa: the original Br'er Rabbit.

Some scholars have suggested that in his American incarnation, Br'er Rabbit represented the enslaved Africans who used their wits to overcome adversity and to exact revenge on their adversaries, the white slave owners.[6] Though not always successful, the efforts of Br'er Rabbit made him a folk hero. However, the trickster is a multidimensional character. While he can be a hero, his amoral nature and his lack of any positive restraint can make him into a villain as well.[7]

For both Africans and African-Americans, the animal trickster represents an extreme form of behavior that people may be forced to adopt in extreme circumstances in order to survive. The trickster is not to be admired in every situation. He is an example of what to do, but also an example of what not to do. The trickster's behavior can be summed up in the common African proverb: "It's trouble that makes the monkey chew on hot peppers." In other words, sometimes people must use extreme measures in extreme circumstances.[8] Several elements in the Brer Rabbit Tar Baby story (e.g., rabbit needing to be taught a lesson, punching and head butting the rabbit, the stuck rabbit being swung around and around) are reminiscent of those found in a Zimbabwe-Botswana folktale.[9]

Folklorists in the late 19th century first documented evidence that the American versions of the stories originated among enslaved West Africans based on connections between Br'er Rabbit and Leuk, a rabbit trickster in Senegalese folklore.[7][10] The stories of Br'er Rabbit were written down by Robert Roosevelt, an uncle of US President Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography about his aunt from the State of 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."

Eatonton, Georgia's statue of Br'er Rabbit

These stories were popularized for the mainstream audience in the late 19th century by Joel Chandler Harris (1845–1908), who wrote down and published many such stories that had been passed down by oral tradition. Harris also attributed the birth name Riley to Br'er Rabbit. Harris heard these tales in Georgia. Very similar versions of the same stories were recorded independently at the same time by the folklorist Alcée Fortier in southern Louisiana, where the Rabbit character was known as Compair Lapin in Creole. Enid Blyton, the English writer of children's fiction, retold the stories for children.

Cherokee parallels

In a detailed study of the sources of Joel Chandler Harris's "Uncle Remus" stories, Florence Baer identified 140 stories with African origins, 27 stories with European origins, and 5 stories with Native American origins.[11]

Although Joel Chandler Harris collected materials for his famous series of books featuring the character Br'er Rabbit in the 1870s, the Br'er Rabbit cycle had been recorded earlier among the Cherokees: The "tar baby" story was printed in an 1845 edition of the Cherokee Advocate, the same year Joel Chandler Harris was born.[12]

Rabbit and Hare myths abound among Algonquin Indians in Eastern North America, particularly under the name Nanabozho. The Great Hare is generally worshipped among tribes in eastern Canada.

In "That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native American Community" by Jace Weaver, the origins of Br'er Rabbit and other literature are discussed. To say that a story only originates from one culture and not another can only be true when a group of people exist in complete isolation from others. Although the Cherokee had lived in isolation from Europeans in the remote past, a substantial amount of interaction was to occur among North American tribes, Europeans, and those from the enslaved population during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is impossible to ascertain whether the Cherokee story independently predated the African American story.

In a Cherokee tale about the briar patch, "the fox and the wolf throw the trickster rabbit into a thicket from which the rabbit quickly escapes."[13] There was a "melding of the Cherokee rabbit-trickster ... into the culture of African slaves."[14]

Joel Chandler Harris

There are nine books by Joel Chandler Harris that contain Brer Rabbit stories:

  • Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings (1881), containing 25 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation (1883), containing 52 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Daddy Jake, the Runaway: And Short Stories Told After Dark (1889), containing 4 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Uncle Remus and his Friends: Old Plantation Stories, Songs, and Ballads with Sketches of Negro Character (1892), containing 11 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Told by Uncle Remus: New Stories of the Old Plantation (1905), containing 13 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (1907), containing 4 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Uncle Remus and the Little Boy (1910), containing 5 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Uncle Remus Returns (1918), containing 6 Brer Rabbit stories.
  • Seven Tales of Uncle Remus (1948), containing 3 Brer Rabbit stories.

Enid Blyton

There are eight books by Enid Blyton that are collections of stories featuring Brer Rabbit and friends, most of which appeared in various magazines in the late 1930's.

  • Heyo, Brer Rabbit! (1938)
  • The Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit (1943)
  • My Enid Blyton Brer Rabbit Book (1948)
  • Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit Book (1963)
  • Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit Again (1963)
  • Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit's a Rascal (1965)
  • Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit Holiday Adventures (1974)
  • Enid Blyton's Brer Rabbit Funtime Adventures

Early comics
Br'er Rabbit in Walt Disney's Song of the South (1946). Disney's version of the character is drawn in a more humorous and lovable style than the illustrations of Br'er Rabbit in Harris' books.[17]

Disney version

Non-Disney
  • On April 21, 1972, astronaut John Young became the ninth person to step onto the Moon, and in his first words he stated, "I'm sure glad they got ol' Brer Rabbit, here, back in the briar patch where he belongs."[20]
  • In 1975, the stories were retold for an adult audience in the cult animation film Coonskin, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
  • In 1984, American composer Van Dyke Parks produced a children's album, Jump!, based on the Br'er Rabbit tales.
  • 1998's Star Trek: Insurrection saw the Starship Enterprise enter a region of space called the Briar Patch. At some point during a battle with the Son'a, Commander Riker states that it is "time to use the Briar Patch the way Br'er Rabbit did".
  • A direct-to-video film based on the stories, The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, was released in 2006.
  • There is a brand of molasses named after the character that is currently produced by B&G Foods.[21]
  • Devin The Dude's song "Briar Patch" is an adaptation of the tar baby tale.
  • in Sam Kieth’s The Maxx, the character Mr. Gone refers to Maxx as “Br’er Lappin” and indeed Maxx is worried if he removes his mask he will find he has a rabbit’s head beneath it.

See also

References
  1. "A Spin Special: Stan Freberg Records". Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  2. "The Song of the South Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  3. "Walt Disney's Song Parade from Disneyland on Golden Records". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  4. BlackFacts.com. "Br'er Rabbit". Blackfacts.com. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  5. "African_Ja_Charact". anansistories.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  6. Levine, Lawrence (1977). Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom. Oxford University Press.
  7. Arnold, Albert (1996). Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows: Animal Tales and American Identities. University of Virginia Press.
  8. "Brer Rabbit and Ananse Stories from Africa (article) by Peter E Adotey Addo on AuthorsDen". Authorsden.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  9. Smith, Alexander McCall (1989). The Girl Who Married A Lion and Other Tales from Africa. Pantheon Books, NY. pp. 185–89.
  10. M'Baye, Babacar (2009). The Trickster Comes West: Pan-African Influence in Early Black Diasporan Narratives. Univ. Press of Mississippi.
  11. Baer, Florence (1980). Sources and Analogues of the Uncle Remus Tales. Folklore Fellows Communications. ISBN 9514103742.
  12. "Cherokee Tales and Disney Films Explored". Powersource.com. June 15, 1996. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
  13. Latin American Indian Literatures Journal. Dept. of Foreign Languages at Geneva College. 6: 10. 1990. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native American Community, p. 4
  15. Becattini, Alberto (2019). "Genesis and Early Development". American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume One. Seattle, WA: Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683901860.
  16. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 83. ISBN 9780472117567.
  17. Brasch, Walter M. (2000). Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus, and the 'Cornfield Journalist': The Tale of Joel Chandler Harris. Mercer University Press. pp. 74, 275.
  18. "Brer Rabbit - I.N.D.U.C.K.S." inducks.org. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  19. "Disney’s “Uncle Remus” strips," Hogan's Alley #16, 2009
  20. "Back in the Briar Patch". Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  21. https://www.bgfoods.com/brands/brer-rabbit

Further reading
  • Backus, Emma M. "Tales of the Rabbit from Georgia Negroes". In: Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 12 (1899). pp. 108–115.
  • Edwards, Charles Lincoln. Bahama Songs And Stories. Boston and New York: Pub. by Houghton, Mifflin and company; [etc., etc.], 1895. (Bahaman stories about B' Rabby)
  • Fortier, Alcée. and Alexander Street Press. Louisiana Folk-tales: In French Dialect And English Translation. Boston: Pub. for the American folk-lore society, by Houghton, Mifflin and company; [etc., etc.]. 1895. (stories of Compair Lapin collected in Louisiana)
  • Marsh, Vivian Costroma Osborne. Types And Distribution of Negro Folk-lore In America. [Berkeley], 1922.
  • Storr, Virgil Henry. "B’ Rabby as a 'True-True Bahamian': Rabbyism as Bahamian Ethos and Worldview in the Bahamas. Folk Tradition and the Works of Strachan and Glinton-Meicholas (January 1, 2009)". In: Journal of Caribbean Literatures. Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 121–142, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1711268
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