Tar-Baby

Tar-Baby

▪ African-American folktale
 sticky tar doll, the central figure in black American folktales popularized in written literature by the American author Joel Chandler Harris (Harris, Joel Chandler). Harris' “Tar-Baby” (1879), one of the animal tales told by the character Uncle Remus, is but one example of numerous African-derived tales featuring the use of a wax, gum, or rubber figure to trap a rascal.

      In Harris' version, the doll is made by Brer Fox and placed in the roadside to even a score with his archenemy Brer Rabbit. Brer Rabbit speaks to the Tar-Baby, gets angry when it does not answer him, strikes it, and gets stuck. The more he strikes and kicks the figure, the more hopelessly he becomes attached.

      The sticky-figure motif is also common in American Indian tales.

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Universalium. 2010.

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