The Annotated African American Folktales - (Annotated Books) by Henry Louis Gates & Maria Tatar (Hardcover)

The Annotated African American Folktales is a groundbreaking collection of nearly 150 African American folktales, myths, and legends that reclaim a lost cultural legacy and redefine American literature.

This comprehensive volume, assembled by acclaimed scholars Henry Louis Gates Jr.

and Maria Tatar, offers a sophisticated and heterogeneous cultural heritage through deceptively simple stories that deserve a place alongside classic works of African American literature and American literature more broadly. With an introduction by Gates and Tatar, as well as 20 seminal African tales as historical background, this collection includes the familiar Brer Rabbit classics, news-making vernacular tales from the 1890s' Southern Workman, and an entire section of Caribbean and Latin American folktales that finally become incorporated into the canon. Illuminating annotations and hundreds of revelatory illustrations bring these stories to life, reminding us that they not only move, entertain, and instruct but inspire and keep hope alive.

Whether you're a scholar, student, or simply someone interested in African American culture and literature, this comprehensive collection is sure to captivate and enrich your understanding of the rich cultural heritage of African Americans.