Uncle Remus

Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African-American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881. A journalist in post-Reconstruction Atlanta, Georgia, Harris produced seven Uncle Remus books.

Structure

Uncle Remus is a collection of animal stories, songs, and oral folklore, collected from southern African-Americans. Many of the stories are didactic, much like those of Aesop's Fables and Jean de La Fontaine's stories. Uncle Remus is a kindly old former slave who serves as a storytelling device, passing on the folktales to children gathered around him.

The stories are written in an eye dialect devised by Harris to represent a Deep South Gullah dialect. The genre of stories is the trickster tale. At the time of Harris' publication, his work was praised for its ability to capture plantation negro dialect.

Br'er Rabbit ("Brother Rabbit") is the main character of the stories, a likable character, prone to tricks and trouble-making, who is often opposed by Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear. In one tale, Br'er Fox constructs a lump of tar and puts clothing on it. When Br'er Rabbit comes along he addresses the "tar baby" amiably but receives no response. Br'er Rabbit becomes offended by what he perceives as Tar Baby's lack of manners, punches it, and becomes stuck.

Uncle Remus (disambiguation)

Uncle Remus is the titular fictional narrator of a collection of stories by Joel Chandler Harris.

Uncle Remus may also refer to:

Uncle Remus (horse)

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Uncle Remus was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the New Zealand Derby and New Zealand 2000 Guineas in the 1977-78 season. He is rated among the best Derby winners of the last 30 years.

Uncle Remus was trained by Colin Jillings, who in his illustrious training career had five Derby victories, but it is probably fair to say that none of the other four winners had the same amount of ability as Uncle Remus.

Perhaps overshadowed by Balmerino, whose deeds in the Northern Hemisphere were constantly in the headlines, Uncle Remus was a great horse in his own right, as shown by his impressive record of 15 wins from just 28 starts.

Following his racing career he was reasonably successful at stud, but never sired a horse with anything like his own ability. He was a extraordinary racehorse who will never be forgotten.