Chapter 23

1. Chapter 23 African and African-American Trickster Stories

2. Characteristics of Trickster Tales • The trickster • forges a contract with a dupe, and then betrays him. • is a power broker who achieves his strength by violating the boundaries set by society. • tries to play a trick and is caught and disgraced. In this case, the trickster is also the dupe, and other characters in the story are seen as power brokers who punish him. • Some stories represent a contest of two tricksters. • Unlike European folktales, which usually have a happy ending, trickster stories typically end in disharmony.

3. Comparison of African and African-American Tales • Some kinds of African traditional tales did not survive in America. • Epic stories that required elaborate performance could not be hidden from slave owners. • In addition, owners discouraged blacks’ attempts to maintain their religious practices, so there was little opportunity to transmit the stories associated with religious rituals.

4. Comparison of African and African-American Tales, 2 • John W. Roberts points out that, although trickster stories from these two traditions resemble each other greatly, the social significance of these tales is quite different. • In both cultures, people had to contend with the shortage of everyday necessities, and the stories reflect this. In Africa, the greatest threat to the values of the community came from the practice of magic, the attempt to manipulate the forces of nature at the expense of other members of the community. • In both cultures, trickster tales flourished as a response to scarcity and hardship. In Africa, the shortages resulted from natural disasters or war. However, in America, the nature of this privation reflected the injustice of the slaveholding system.

5. Comparison of African and African-American Tales, 3 • Jay Edwards believes that the importance of the trickster tale is that it captures important ethical dilemmas, both for the individual and for society. • The trickster in African-American stories gets the dupe to trust him, and then betrays the trust. • The stories favor neither trickery nor trust, but allow the audience to reflect on certain moral dilemmas imposed by slavery – the dilemmas that account for the change in the trickster's role. • Because of the nature of social conditions imposed by slavery, trickster tales inevitably end in disharmony, and the trickster’s strategy is to maximize short-term economic gain at the cost of long-term goals like social cohesion.

6. Comparison of African and African-American Tales, 4 • Roger Abrahams points to the trickster himself in these stories: • He is a part of society, but functions at its limits. • He lives between nature and culture and, because of his dual identity, is able to unmask or disorder the world of those with a more solid stake in the established norms of society. • As an insignificant and almost invisible creature, the trickster is able to learn the secrets of others, and to unmask and undermine their doings.

7. Importance of the Audience • Trickster tales derive from a tradition based on oral performance. • The best storytellers bring the stories to life by • imitating a range of human and animal voices. • accompanying the story with a variety of sounds, squawks, screams. • providing suitable singing, dancing, and gestures.

8. Performance at a Wake in St. Vincent • The storyteller is good because she gets the audience to respond, sing, and dance. • The story is secondary. • The performance breaks the rules of decorum. • Interruptions and digressions are normal because they advance the participation of the audience.

9. Why the Hare Runs Away • “Shame, shame, oh, hare!” they cried together. “Did you not agree with us to cut off the tips of your ears, and, when it came to your turn, did you not refuse? What! You refused, and yet you come to muddy our water?” • Aetiological insight: Why the hare doesn’t leave the grass.

10. The Ant’s Burden • “Oh! what have you done, you wicked fellow?” cried his father. “You have killed the king’s jester!” • Tsin gets rain with the help of the dwarf. • Anansi kills the dwarf and tries to put the blame on Tsin. • Tsin tricks Anansi, who is punished. • Anansi tricks the ant. • The story contains two liminal figures, the dwarf and Anansi. • Aetiological insight: Why ants carry burdens on their heads.

11. Why They Name the Stories for Anansi • Master King said, “Well, as you know, Blacksnake is a very wise and clever creature. If you can trick him and bring him back to me full-length on a pole, then I will have all those stories named for you.” • Master King can represent the plantation owner.

12. Tricking All the Kings • Then Buh Nansi said, “Oh, Massa King, you mean to pitch me in that blue, blue sea? Massa King, better to shoot me than pitch me in that blue sea water.” • Massa King catches Nansi with the tar baby. • Nansi catches the shark and eats it. • Nansi catches the lion. The lion gets loose, but Nansi kills him at his own feast.

13. A Boarhog for a Husband • The Old Witch Boy whispered, “Daddy, Daddy, did you know that the fellow my sister is going to marry is a boarhog?” • The dupes, the daughter and her husband, are destroyed by the implied contract they made with the little Old Witch Boy, the slave who can unmask the more successful members of society. • Animal groom story, like “The Frog Prince” and “The Tiger’s Bride” (p. 670).