The Tall Tale in American Folklore and Literature

Download or read book The Tall Tale in American Folklore and Literature written by Carolyn Schmidt Brown and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To Carolyn Brown s mind, the tall tale is not necessarily an account of the adventures of a larger-than-life hero, nor is it just a humorous first-person narrative exaggerated to outlandish proportions. It is as well an interaction between teller and audience a game played at the hazy border between the credible and the incredible, a challenge and an entertainment at the same time. The tall tale is also a social statement that identifies and binds a folk group by flaunting the peculiar knowledge and experiences of group members, and it is a tool for coping with a stressful or even chaotic world, for conquering life s problems by laughing at them.