Power of the Southern melting pot: analysis of Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus as Southern folklore and cultural appropriation

Author

Robyn M. Johnson, University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaFollow

Committee Chair

Smith, Joyce

Committee Member

Shaheen, Aaron; Kizza, Immaculate

Department

Dept. of English

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

In this paper, I address the controversy of origins surrounding Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus collections. Based on James O. Young’s definitions of appropriation, I establish Harris’s work as evidence of cultural content appropriation of European, African, and Native American folklore. Harris specifically appropriates European and African folklore to further his own Post-Civil War psyche, attempting to preserve the ideal Southern past. Such preservation efforts are literally significant for they provide examples of appropriation that are done not out of an attempt to oppress European and African culture, but to integrate it into the developing Southern culture. The visible Native American appropriation, however, stands as evidence to the use of appropriation as a method of taking power and oppressing a minority group.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Joyce Smith, Dr. Aaron Shaheen, and Dr. Immaculate Kizza, who assisted in the long process of research, writing and editing. Without them, my thesis would not have been possible. In addition, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Rebecca Jones and Dr. Katherine Rehyansky who inspired me to tackle the Uncle Remus collections.

Degree

M. A.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts.

Date

5-2017

Name

Harris, Joel Chandler, 1848-1908 -- Criticism and interpretation

Keyword

Uncle Remus; Joel Chandler Harris; Native American; folklore; African; Cultural appropriation

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

vi, 82 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Robyn M., "Power of the Southern melting pot: analysis of Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus as Southern folklore and cultural appropriation" (2017). Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.
https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/503