Joel Chandler Harris: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Joel Chandler Harris is a famous American writer who became famous as the author of famous fairy tales for children based on folklore material. This work includes several collections that were very popular among readers. In addition, the author was actively engaged in the study of folklore and journalism, thus making a great contribution to the development of American literature in the 19th century.

Early years

Joel Chandler Harris was born in 1848. His mother was an immigrant, and the origin of his father remained unknown. From an early age, the boy became addicted to literature, largely thanks to his mother, who often read aloud to her son. At the Academy, the future famous writer discovered an extraordinary ability to write. In addition, he had an excellent memory.

He subsequently went to work for a newspaper. Here Joel Chandler Harris showed himself as a good writer. He published some of his sketches in the newspaper, which were notable for their original language and critical approach. He also carefully listened to the stories of the plantation slaves, which later formed the basis of his African-American animal tales. This invaluable experience subsequently formed the basis of hisfamous stories, united by the image of Uncle Remus.

Writing career

Joel Chandler Harris continued his literary pursuits after moving to another newspaper, forced to do so by the events of the Civil War. His humorous sketches of rural life in Georgia brought him popularity and fame. He also became famous as a writer of rather witty puns.

In addition to purely literary activities, he was engaged in writing articles on topical issues, exposing corruption, bribery, the struggle of parties. In 1876, the writer moved to Atlanta with his family, where he continued to work as a journalist. By that time, he was already an established chronicler of the history of the South.

Fairy tales

After a while he became assistant editor. Then he began to think about the plan of his own work of art. The author came up with a charming black storyteller who amused the people with his humorous stories about the life of post-war Atlanta. Thus, Uncle Remus' Tales was born. Joel Chandler Harris created 185 miniatures that were very popular with the reading public.

The first collection came out in 1880 and was a great success. In total, the author released five parts, three more unfinished collections were published after his death. These works brought him worldwide fame. Contemporary critics noted his professional work with black folklore and skillfulreproducing the color of their culture in a fairy-tale form.

Influence and reviews

Joel Chandler Harris, whose books were loved by readers along with the best works of other American writers, immediately became famous for his original stories about the life of animals on a plantation.

The story is told on behalf of Uncle Remus, who tells the planter's son various comedic incidents from the life of Brer Rabbit and his friends and enemies. Collections of fairy tales immediately attracted the attention of other writers. M. Twain praised the author very much for the colorful recreation of the life of the South and the colorful reproduction of the features of the culture of the black peoples. He especially liked the dialectical language spoken by his characters.

Joel Chandler Harris, whose biography has since been inextricably linked with the writing of fairy tales, wrote the stories of Uncle Remus until the end of his life. His works influenced the work of R. Kipling, W. Faulkner and many others. In our country, these fairy tales were published in the translation of M. Gershenzon and since then have been repeatedly reprinted.

Other works

In addition to these books, the author wrote short stories and short stories in which he covered many urgent problems of contemporary society: racial conflicts, class contradictions, gender inequality. Thanks to his work, readers learned about many of the bright and dark sides of life in the American South. The first collection of such stories was published in 1884,then other publications followed, in which the author widely covered the life of the southern states during the period of slavery and Reconstruction. The most popular were his writings about smugglers, politicians, former slaves.

New fairy tales and articles

Uncle Remus' stories are not just for kids, but adults too. However, the author wrote fairy tales exclusively for children's reading. His charismatic animals completely turned the idea of creating short fiction with animated animals. All subsequent works with a similar plot (for example, the famous "Winnie the Pooh") were created under the direct influence of Harris.

He did not leave his journalistic activity either. The author continued to expose racial conflicts, religious intolerance, lynching practices, limited access to education and many other burning topics. However, in 1900, the writer quit the newspaper due to the fact that many did not like his articles. However, he founded the magazine and did not leave the practice of journalism, sometimes sending his articles to the press.

His activities attracted the attention of the general public. He was a member of the Academy of Arts and was held in high esteem by President Roosevelt. Joel Chandler Harris died of nephritis in 1908. The photo of the writer presented in this article is probably known to every schoolchild, since the whole world knows his works.