Details

Subject(s)

• Folklore—Louisiana—History and criticism [Browse]
• African Americans—Folklore—History [Browse]
• Children's literature, American—History and criticism [Browse]
• Folklore and history—Louisiana [Browse]
• New Orleans (La.)—Race relations—History—20th century [Browse]

Series

Folklore studies in a multicultural world [More in this series]

Summary note

"Jeanne Soileau, through her role as a public school teacher in New Orleans for more than forty years, examines how children's folklore, especially African American folklore, has changed from the tumultuous trials of integration to the present. Her experience allows her the unique opportunity to observe children as they play and as their play changes. Starting with integration in New Orleans during the 1960s, Soileau notes, the children began to play with one another almost immediately. The children taught each other play routines, chants, jokes, jump-rope rhymes, cheers, taunts and teases--all the folk games that happen in normal play on street and playground. While the adults--the judges and attorneys, the parents, and the politicians--all haggled over which school had how many students of which race, the children began to hold hands in a circle, fall down together to "Ring around the Rosie," and tease each other in new and creative ways. Children's ability to adapt can be seen not only in their response to social change, but in how they adopt and utilize pop culture and technology. The vast technological changes of the last third of the twentieth century influenced the way children and their friends, sang, danced, played, and interacted. Louisiana Children's Folklore catalogs these changes across the decades, studying how games evolve and transform as much as they are preserved. The book includes several genres of study, oral narratives and songs, jokes and tales, and teasing formulae gleaned from mostly African American sources. Because much of the collection took place on public school playgrounds, this body of oral narratives could be of particular interest to teachers, folklorists, linguists, and parents"-- Provided by publisher.

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-189) and index.

Contents

• History and scope of this project
• Boys' verbal play
• Girls' verbal play
• The African American child and the media
• To infinity and beyond: children's play in the electronic age.

Show 2 more Contents items

ISBN

• 9781496810403 ((hardback))
• 1496810406 ((hardback))
• 9781496826329 ((paperback))
• 1496826329 ((paperback))

LCCN

2016027919

OCLC

966508446

Statement on language in description

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