Details

Joel Chandler Harris (1848–1908) was an American journalist and writer, best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Harris spent much of his early life on a plantation where he developed an appreciation for the stories told by the African American folk there. His seminal work, 'Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings' (1880), is a treasured compilation of African American oral folklore passed down from generation to generation. Harris's fiction melded humor, folklore, and a sharp eye for regional detail, preserving the African-American dialects and folklore of the post-Civil War South. His literary style was distinctive for its sympathetic and oft-times romanticized depiction of plantation life, which has since been both celebrated for its preservation of culture and critiqued for its idealized view of slavery. Harris's works contributed to the development of a national literature that incorporated local color and vernacular speech. The influence of 'Uncle Remus' echoes in the works of later writers and has kept the legacy and challenges of the Antebellum era alive in American cultural discourse. This author was also a noted journalist, working primarily for the Atlanta Constitution during his career. While Harris's portrayal of race relations was progressive for his time, modern perspectives sometimes grapple with its complexities and contradictions. Nonetheless, Joel Chandler Harris is an indelible part of American literary history.