SOCIAL ISSUES

      In addition to a full biography of Joel Chandler Harris (1846?-1908) and discussion of his writings, Brasch threads innumerable issues throughout the book, including looks at:

• Understanding the conflicts within Harris's life to better understand our own lives.
• The psychological schizophrenia of the journalist and literary writer.
• The nature of the American family as part of the literary process.
• Why should the life of Joel Chandler Harris matter not only to today's reader, but also to contemporary journalism as well? (all chapters)
• Understanding journalism during the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Yellow Journalism eras as a base for understanding today's journalism. (chapters 2-8)
• Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit tales as a vital part of Black American folklore (chapters 3-14)
• The use of American Black English in literature. Is it a reflection of racism or a window into Black culture? (chapters 3-14)
• Was Uncle Remus himself an "Uncle Tom"or one of the strongest depictions of the plantation-era American Black in American literature? (chapters 3-14)
• In 1926, a survey of high school and college English teachers placed the Uncle Remus tales as the fifth most important work of American literature. Why were they largely forgotten by the 1960s? (chapters 13-14)
• The vaporous nature of fame. How could one of America's most popular writers of the late 1800s and early 1900s be so forgotten in today's literature and by today's society? Was there a conspiracy in the literary world to deliberately erase Harris's name from the Uncle Remus tales (chapters 13-14)
• Brer Rabbit on stage; Uncle Remus in the movies. Racism or faithful representation of the Plantation life? How did Disney's "Song of the South"(1946) forever change public perception of Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus, and the nature of the American Black during the Antebellum and Reconstruction eras? (chapters 13-14)
• Contemporary literary interpretations of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit. Racism, Fairy Tales, or Morality tales? Politically incorrect or culturally relevant? (chapters 13-14)
• The tar-baby as an allegory for American social and political life. (chapters 3-4, 13-14)
• The true story why the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta didn't choose Brer Rabbit as its mascot. (chapter 14)
• Journalism as a force for social change or an institution to protect establishment values? (all chapters)