Stories passed down by the word of mouth
Vernacular tradition, the passing down of stories and traditions by word of mouth, is significant in older African American culture. Of the many hardships that slaves endured in early America, being denied education was a common practice on most plantations. Slaves were only taught enough English so that they could be told what to do, and a lot of the time, slaves had to teach their children without any help from their masters. Despite these hardships, African Americans were still able to create literature of their own in a way. While slaves rarely did anything other than work and sleep, they did so together, which created a sense of community. Through these communities, they made their own songs and stories, which they passed down by mouth, almost as if they were being written.
One main example of vernacular tradition typical among slaves was singing. There is only so much you can do with your words while doing grueling work in fields, so creating simple rhymes that are easy to remember, which also motivate you, is a good way to make the day not seem so hard. The point of these songs was usually to give the slaves hope of a better tomorrow. Singing about encouraging topics would help one get through work better than a song talking about one's grievances. The types of tomorrows that were sung about would vary; sometimes they would be peaceful, where everyone lives in harmony, but other times they would take an approach where their oppressive slave owners would end up in a worse situation, but these weren’t as common because slaves could be punished for saying such things. Sometimes these songs would have specific roles: there would be one leader who sang something, followed by the rest of the group repeating it. This type of singing created unity among the slaves because of how they worked together to sing.
There would also be specific meanings behind these songs. On top of the general idea of being free, there would be stories and messages that the songs would convey. Sometimes, these ideas had to be cleverly covered up. If slaves wanted to sing about things such as resistance, they wouldn’t want their owners to find out. One popular story slaves sang and taught was Moses bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. Generally, slave owners taught slaves parts of the Bible. Though one story they refrained from teaching was that of Moses. In this story, Moses is sent by God to save the Israelites from their oppressors in Egypt, and he leads them to the promised land. Because Moses is freeing slaves, the owners of slaves wouldn’t want those ideas getting into the heads of their slaves. Even though slave owners tried to prevent the spread of this story, it was still a very popularly shared story among slaves.
Being able to sing these songs and tell these stories is one of the main reasons African culture exists. This adapted type of literature also helped slaves get through slavery. During the day, they could sing songs to get through the work. Singing songs created a type of connection between all of the slaves on a plantation. After the work day was over, they could tell stories, which could offer a more thorough representation of their fight. The stories told at night could be more representative, acting as metaphors of how slavery would end. They could also be real stories, such as news from another plantation, that gives them hope, but they could also be unfortunate stories, where the slaves learn to be more cautious and aware of what's going on. This special type of literature laid the foundation for African American culture as a whole. Stemming from an expression of survival, it has since evolved and been turned into something much greater than songs sung in a field.
Hi Erik,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting how you framed African-American vernacular as written oral history. The post made me think about how oral traditions kept black culture alive and evolving. Songs encompassed resistance, happiness, sadness, and other complex messages that slaves were denied the ability to write down. I wonder how early black culture would have been different if slaves were widely literate.
-Sasha
Hi Erik, I like how you spend some time explaining the origins of vernacular traditions. Of the many different purposes of vernacular traditions, the one I find most interesting is also the uplifting work songs. I can definitely imagine the sense of unity they created and especially how they acknowledged their troubles while trying to stay optimistic. Great job with adding in extra details and examples to illustrate these points.
ReplyDeleteHello Erik, I really agree that the vernacular tradition was a foundation for African American culture, since it turned oral storytelling into a form of "literature" when books were banned. On the other hand, I’d disagree that songs about grievances were less helpful than encouraging ones. I would argue that many of these sad songs were actually vital for processing trauma and keeping the community grounded in their shared reality. Overall really good blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Erik,
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about vernacular tradition in African American literature too, and I really enjoyed reading this blog. One point that I really liked was how you talked about vernacular tradition arose through communities. I feel like the sense of community is one of the defining factors, but at the same time, it's also the easiest one to forget. I also like how you talk about how vernacular tradition isn't static but rather changing as it evolves throughout time. Great Blog!
Hi Erik,
ReplyDeleteI saw a similar approach on venacular tradition from Lucas, and was glad to see it shown in a different light from your blog. I agree with how songs were a big part of the vernacular tradition, and how the message they would convey would be reminiscent of their dreaded past.
Hi Erik, I think that maybe part of their reason for creating their own vernacualr was because the black people associated standard english with their masters, which almost certianly had negative connotations. I think it is also key that a lot of their songs were optomistic even though they were living in such harsh conditions. I think it is also interesting that the slaves spread anti-slavery cristianity in this way because they probably wanted their own version of english being used to communicate the ideas about slavery being bad instead of standard english which was what the masters used to teach them with.
ReplyDeleteHello Erik! It's interesting how you brought to light that African Americans were taught English just so they could be told what to do. I think this reduction is surprising at first, but it is (at least I think) true. While I don't think they were ever formally taught English, they definitely weren't taught it to create their own culture. I think the way you got to this idea that their vernacular (particularly in music) sprung from the hardships and oppression is very valuable, especially because it connects to so many other late genres of music.
ReplyDeleteHey Erik,
ReplyDeletethe idea you pose about the importance of song to black vernacular history is one I read in some other blogs as well. You even discuss pre-American black history and I think that is very important to mention, especially because those ideas were a big part of black identity and pride during the periods we are studying. I would have liked to know a bit more about how this passed down into literature, specifically some of the stories and poems we read.
Hey Erik, your point on African American culture persisting due to vernacular tradition is important, as it is one of many ways African Americans resisted during their time in enslavement. I like how you gave specific examples of the types of stories they would sing, and it's interesting that in the case of the Moses story, the whites themselves realized that they were in the wrong yet they still wanted their cruel system to continue. Looking back at these stories now, I wonder if we did lose some aspects of the originals, as many of them that we know now have been written down and that's how we know about them. Overall, great post!
ReplyDelete