Not willing to cast himself as a champion of the Negro
Although Icarus has already taken his tumble, I give Harris props for not taking on a savior complex. I've seen so many modern white celebrities try to speak for black people and treat them like children. It's counterproductive and beyond cringy, as if the celebs think black people NEED them to survive. At least Harris knew his place in the end.
Harris insists that his folktales are valuable only "because of the unadulterated human nature that might be found in them." As he wrote them he imagined children about him laughing
Now it seems to me that after being taken down a few notches, Harris changes his mind about his stories and insists that they were always for comedic purposes. Kinda like a "lol I was just kidding" forced by public humiliation. As he retreats with his tail between his legs, I can't help but feel for the guy.
My own utter ignorance I confess without a pang. To know that you are ignorant is a valuable form of knowledge, and I am gradually accumulating a vast store of it.
A classy way of admitting defeat. It reminds me of a certain paradox that says the least intelligent people think they know everything while the truly intelligent know their knowledge is inevitably limited. It's good to keep yourself in check (whether criticism forces you to or not) when you forget that you're only human. That's a hard lesson that all artists must learn at some point.
inner dilemma
It sounds like Harris knows deep down that he has been disproven, yet still clings to his artistic merit. He knows he lost the argument but may still feel obligated to argue. "You may have thrown out my logic, but you can't beat my writing chops!"
Harris seems to be rejecting ethnological interpretations and reaffirming his belief that the stories are a conscious artistic representation of the black experience.
The author responds to criticism but stands his ground, doubling down that he is a good representative of southern negro culture. His confidence is still intact at this point.
type of folklore told by a people will afford an index to their mental and cultural development.
In publishing his stories, could Harris have been trying to introduce the fact that southern negroes are just as human as his white audience? I know these annotations are supposed to be finished ideas but I can't be entirely sure of Harris' intentions.
double consciousness
Contrary to popular belief, I think this is possible. Just as we can read a story and "become" the characters--we see ourselves in them--we can also jump into another persona, another mind, when writing. The human brain is a magnificent thing whose limits are indefinite.
compensatory fantasy which portrayed the triumph of the black man over the white society that had enslaved him.
This is what leads me to believe Harris had good intentions with his writing. Black supremacy was a fantasy that not many writers of the 19th century would dare go near, but Harris was willing to bring the thought to paper.
The theory that American Negro folklore represented a lower, more primitive stage of culture might not have bothered Harris, had it not clashed with his original interpretation of the tales
Here Harris realizes the challenges of providing black storytelling to a white audience. Due to black people being viewed as subhuman, his retelling of their stories was also associated with low class.
. But it was such considerations which would prove a source of aggravation to him in Nights with Uncle Remus
Perhaps Harris set out on a project that had good intentions but proved too big for his perspectives.