Reviews for African-American Folklore

The average rating for African-American Folklore based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-11-14 00:00:00 Arick Solan A better subtitle: An Anthology of African American Culture. I purchased From My People out of a desire to deepen my understanding of African American folk tales and oral tradition. Having bought a used copy online, I was surprised to flip to the table of contents and discover a whole section on recipes. And another whole section on chain emails circa 2000. Look, I get it: in a technical sense, folklore does encompass these things. But I don't think that's how the term 'folklore' is largely used these days, and whoever selected the subtitle did the book a disservice. The folk tale section is relatively short, which disappointed me, but I also think the subtitle might not appeal to those who would enjoy the broad scope of the book. It's a decent anthology. Four hundred years is a stretch (most of the book comes from the last 150 / 200 years, with an emphasis on the twentieth century). That's understandable as you can't go back and interview a slave in 1760, and unfortunately, not many people were interviewing eighteenth-century slaves about their lives. Again, though, deciding to include that detail in the subtitle is to the book's detriment. The decision to not always note when an interview was conducted or when a piece was published, however, is perhaps the biggest annoyance. There's a huge difference when someone is relaying a story from their childhood when they're telling that story at the age of 17 versus 70. Having said all of that, it's a decent survey of African American culture, although more as a reference than to read in its entirety. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-11-07 00:00:00 Wendy Price From my People is packed with a variety of stories, poems, pictures, and even human of African-American folklore. It is not a book that can be picked up and read cover to cover. Daryl Cumber Dance did an incredible job compiling such a complete collection. This book clearly shows that she has a passion for making sure these stories continue. As with any book that has such a range of styles, it is hard to rate. Some of the stories were incredible, some stories were thought-provoking, and some just seem to ramble on. I even found some stories that just made me smile. I would recommend this book only as a reference. It would be a good place if someone was looking for something about a specific topic. Then it would be great to refer to a related tale, joke, or even picture. Other than that, it can be tedious. Still, I can't imaging how difficult it was to compile this collection and for that the author deserves kudos.