When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote: African-Native American Literature

336 Pages·13.052 MB·English

by  Jonathan Brennan

WHEN BRER RABBIT
MEETS COYOTE
African-Native American Literature
WHEN BRER RABBIT
MEETS COYOTE
African-Native American Literature
An exploration of the literature, history, and
culture of people of mixed African American
and Native American descent, When Brer
Rabbit Meets Coyote is the first book to
theorize an African-Native American liter¬
ary tradition. In doing so, it prompts a
reconsideration of interracial relations in
American history and literature.
Jonathan Brennan, in a sweeping historical
and analytical introduction to this collec¬
tion of essays, surveys several centuries of
literature in the context of the historical
and cultural exchange and development of
distinct African-Native American tradi¬
tions. Positing a new African-Native
American literary theory, he illuminates the
roles subjectivity, situational identities, and
strategic discourse play in defining
African-Native American literatures.
Brennan provides a thorough background to
the literary tradition and a valuable
overview of topics discussed in the essays.
He examines African-Native American
political and historical texts, travel narra¬
tives, and the Mardi Gras Indian tradition,
suggesting that this evolving oral tradition
parallels the development of numerous
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WHEN BRER RABBIT MEETS COYOTE

EDITED BY
JONATHAN BRENNAN
When Brer Rabbit
Meets Coyote
African-Native American
Literature
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
URBANA AND CHICAGO
© 2003 by the Board of Trustees
of the University of Illinois
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 5 4 3 2 i
© This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
When Brer Rabbit meets Coyote : African-Native American
literature / edited by Jonathan Brennan,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-252-02819-8 (alk. paper)
1. American literature—African American authors—History
and criticism.
2. American literature—Indian authors—History and criticism.
3. Literature, Comparative—African American and Indian.
4. Literature, Comparative—Indian and African American.
5. Literature and folklore—United States.
6. Indians of North America—Folklore.
7. African Americans in literature.
8. African Americans—Folklore.
9. Folklore in literature.
10. Indians in literature.
I. Brennan, Jonathan.
PS153.N5W43 2003
8io.9'896o73—dc2i 2002014265
A mi esposa, Natalia,
y mis hijos, Carmen Alicia y Liam Rafael:
Que nos quiten lo bailao