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This book is a lot of fun, full of good stuff. That said, it was a project taken on by amateurs and the lack of precision shows. It's still great fun and I recommend it highly.
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Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana
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Long considered the finest collection of Louisiana folktales and customs, this anthology of short stories from Lyle Saxon, Edward Dreyer, and Robert Tallant, chronicles the tales and legends that emerged from the bayou country more than seventy years ago. This anniversary edition contains the complete transcript of the original 1945 printing. On every page are new delights: garlic hangs from the rafters, the Loup Garou holds a convention on Bayou Goula, spiders dwell in haunted houses, and images of St. Rosalia are carried from church to church. All aspects of the bayou state's society are detailed in this wonderful album of Louisiana tradition. Even ghosts haunt the pages including the headless horseman of Natchitoches, and the whimsical apparition who startled citizens of Monroe.
Gumbo Ya-Ya is a charming look at the legends and practices of Louisiana. Originally written as part of the WPA's Louisiana Writers' Program, it has endured as a classic of its genre.
Gumbo Ya-Ya is a charming look at the legends and practices of Louisiana. Originally written as part of the WPA's Louisiana Writers' Program, it has endured as a classic of its genre.
640 pages, Paperback
First published January 18,1984
This edition
- Format
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640 pages, Paperback
- Published
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May 31, 1987 by Pelican Publishing
- ISBN
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9780882896458
- ASIN
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0882896458
- Language
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English
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 40 votes)
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This really wasn't what I expected. I thought "Folk Tales of Louisiana" would be just that -- tall folk tales, maybe of ghosts, the loup garou, voodoo, etc. But it's much better. It's as if you dropped a listening device into Louisiana in the 1940s and asked everyone to just start talking . . . . about anything. The result is a fascinating mixture of personal memories, stories, myths, historical accounts, and just about everything you could imagine, to give a flavor of life in the Louisiana (more New Orleans than other parts of the state) from the late 1800s to 1945.
One of the great things about the WPA Writer's Project was the opportunity it gave writers to capture the life of their time in the first person. This may be the best example I've read. It has an authentic feel to it, owing to the liberal use of direct quotes, and even the sometimes cringe-worthy capture of dialect and attitudes. We learn from first-hand sources about the celebrations, life on the street, gangs, crime, ethnic and racial divides and hierarchies, poverty, pirates, and all the rest. It's not always easy to listen to.
The writers capture what they hear faithfully, relaying what they hear with a raw directness that conveys, for the greatest part, a respect for those they hear it from. The one exception I have to mention is the chapter on "Songs" where I have to imagine a different author (there are three co-authors for the book) takes over, and the voice becomes that of an anthropologist talking about "the Negro", as well as Creole and Cajun life, looking from the outside in, instead of letting the people themselves do the talking. That the chapter stands in such stark contrast to the rest of the book speaks to the authenticity of the remainder, though.
I enjoyed the book immensely, and I learned from it.
One of the great things about the WPA Writer's Project was the opportunity it gave writers to capture the life of their time in the first person. This may be the best example I've read. It has an authentic feel to it, owing to the liberal use of direct quotes, and even the sometimes cringe-worthy capture of dialect and attitudes. We learn from first-hand sources about the celebrations, life on the street, gangs, crime, ethnic and racial divides and hierarchies, poverty, pirates, and all the rest. It's not always easy to listen to.
The writers capture what they hear faithfully, relaying what they hear with a raw directness that conveys, for the greatest part, a respect for those they hear it from. The one exception I have to mention is the chapter on "Songs" where I have to imagine a different author (there are three co-authors for the book) takes over, and the voice becomes that of an anthropologist talking about "the Negro", as well as Creole and Cajun life, looking from the outside in, instead of letting the people themselves do the talking. That the chapter stands in such stark contrast to the rest of the book speaks to the authenticity of the remainder, though.
I enjoyed the book immensely, and I learned from it.
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my feelings toward this anthology are as complex as my feelings toward the deep south.
upon reading it, there were various chapters that inspired feelings of a nostalgic homecoming -- the voices in the tales are rich and true and sing out history in tones that are completely unique to louisiana: shared mischief, shared community, shared passion for life. through these chapters i felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude...moments where i was struck with a sharp awareness that the authors did a very fine job. here is a clear recording of lives from the civil war through depression-era jim crow. this is the south before my experience. this is a time and place i will never be able to fully understand in my own life. in this collection (published in the 1940's) the voices of history feel alive and precious.
but intermixed is such abominable racism that the collection is as heartbreaking as it is dear, and perhaps that is why it is still important after all these decades. Many chapters (i.e., "plantations") find the writers abdicating the authenticity of their positions as observers of society and instead taking political positions. the reader is assured that the "vast majority" of slave owners treated their slaves like kings. there is also the strong assertion that the indentured servant system that followed slavery (i.e., sharecropping) was "just" and "democratic" and only unfortunate to the extent that black people in the south were allowed free of rein to destroy themselves -- because, of course, they were little better than animals. ugh -- i could not make it far through these chapters, and they filled me with rage.
it also should be mentioned that subtle racism exists throughout the book, in every chapter, even the "good" ones. black americans are referred to in derogatory terms, while white americans are mostly left with clean descriptors. in addition, there is room to question the integrity of the writers in the people they chose to interview for their collection. without a doubt, black people are lampooned as being animalistic, stupid, over-sexed -- and to the extent these interviews are accurate recordings, one most wonder about the agenda of the writers in choosing their subjects, or the creative license they employed in editing their dialogues. although, an important follow-up point: poor white people are depicted in the same manner. as the writers focus on the folklore of low income communities in the south, they apply equal weight to the "absurdity" of poor whites and poor blacks.
so, why is it so highly ranked? this hearkens to my point in the first paragraph. above all else, we are reading many (many) interviews of people who lived and struggled in a time that we have no real concept of -- culture that has, nonetheless, fundamentally shaped who we are as a people at this very moment in time. and they have a certain joie de vivre that is so unique, so louisiana. with all the good and the bad -- it's the deep south, homecoming and also horror.
u
upon reading it, there were various chapters that inspired feelings of a nostalgic homecoming -- the voices in the tales are rich and true and sing out history in tones that are completely unique to louisiana: shared mischief, shared community, shared passion for life. through these chapters i felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude...moments where i was struck with a sharp awareness that the authors did a very fine job. here is a clear recording of lives from the civil war through depression-era jim crow. this is the south before my experience. this is a time and place i will never be able to fully understand in my own life. in this collection (published in the 1940's) the voices of history feel alive and precious.
but intermixed is such abominable racism that the collection is as heartbreaking as it is dear, and perhaps that is why it is still important after all these decades. Many chapters (i.e., "plantations") find the writers abdicating the authenticity of their positions as observers of society and instead taking political positions. the reader is assured that the "vast majority" of slave owners treated their slaves like kings. there is also the strong assertion that the indentured servant system that followed slavery (i.e., sharecropping) was "just" and "democratic" and only unfortunate to the extent that black people in the south were allowed free of rein to destroy themselves -- because, of course, they were little better than animals. ugh -- i could not make it far through these chapters, and they filled me with rage.
it also should be mentioned that subtle racism exists throughout the book, in every chapter, even the "good" ones. black americans are referred to in derogatory terms, while white americans are mostly left with clean descriptors. in addition, there is room to question the integrity of the writers in the people they chose to interview for their collection. without a doubt, black people are lampooned as being animalistic, stupid, over-sexed -- and to the extent these interviews are accurate recordings, one most wonder about the agenda of the writers in choosing their subjects, or the creative license they employed in editing their dialogues. although, an important follow-up point: poor white people are depicted in the same manner. as the writers focus on the folklore of low income communities in the south, they apply equal weight to the "absurdity" of poor whites and poor blacks.
so, why is it so highly ranked? this hearkens to my point in the first paragraph. above all else, we are reading many (many) interviews of people who lived and struggled in a time that we have no real concept of -- culture that has, nonetheless, fundamentally shaped who we are as a people at this very moment in time. and they have a certain joie de vivre that is so unique, so louisiana. with all the good and the bad -- it's the deep south, homecoming and also horror.
u
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Some of the facts in chapters about historical events are wobbly, but taken as folk tales they're still great reading.
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A mess of stories and anecdotes with little coherency. I often moved forward through multiple pages in an effort to find something coherently readable.
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Great read and enough telling to make the head spin.
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Describing this as "A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales" is inaccurate. This book does have a lot of folk tales, but also includes actual history (oral and written), news articles, "urban legends", accounts of various groups in Louisiana (Creoles, Cajuns, Afican-Americans, Italian, Irish, Germans, etc), folk medicine, religion, superstition, holidays, etc.
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For anyone interested in the history of Lousiana this is a fascinating look inside. Thoroughly enjoyed reading about the people of New Orleans and the rest of this interesting state.
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