Based on the literary works that we've read so far, how does the vernacular tradition express itself in African American literature?
Based on the literary works that we've read so far, how does the vernacular tradition express itself in African American literature?
In African American literature, the vernacular tradition refers to oral, literary, and cultural practices that reflect African American culture and experiences. Throughout the works we have read, these traditions are expressed through storytelling that centers the voices of current or formerly enslaved people, as well as those who endured similar forms of oppression. Their experiences, whether positive or painful, are shared in a way that allows readers to understand what they went through. By using everyday language, perspectives that are personal, and culturally rooted storytelling, the vernacular tradition preserves history and makes these written experiences feel authentic.
In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Jacobs presents vernacular tradition through personal narrative and lived experiences to express the realities of enslavement for Black women. This story relied solely on storytelling, as it was written as a slave narrative. Vernacular tradition appears through shared stories, warnings, and advice passed down between enslaved women and families, highlighting the importance of communal knowledge and survival. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl affirms African American voices. Through this, it centers around the storytelling of a Black woman and relies on the use of authentic vernacular tradition.
Similarly, in The Wife of His Youth, we become acquainted with various forms of oral vernacular tradition, cultural tradition, and social statistical standards within African American Literature. The story follows Mr. Ryder, a biracial man who was born free before the start of the war. As he comes into his adulthood, he becomes a leader for the "Blue Vein Society”, an organization that privileges lighter skinned African Americans. Vernacular tradition expresses itself in the story through dialogue, storytelling, and the difference between formal language and spoken dialect. Characters like Liza Jane speak in a distinct oral style that reflects the culture, lived experiences, memories, and history passed down through her speech, rather than written records.
Overall, in African American literature, vernacular tradition is a mix of authentic cultures and memories, mixed with historical significance and remembrance. Through oral storytelling, dialect, and lived storytelling, authors preserve voices that were often excluded from written history. Works such as Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and The Wife of His Youth demonstrate how vernacular tradition conveys identity, resistance, and truth. This overall allows African American experiences to be truly remembered and honored.
Hi Briana,
ReplyDeleteI think your framing of vernacular tradition as "authentic" is interesting and worth exploring more. Authenticity means of undisputed or genuine origin. While, I think vernacular speech could have be authentic to many enslaved African-Americans, I am not sure if that quality makes vernacular what it is. Black vernacular would not have have been authentic for everyone. I think that is why we see some characters that have very exaggerated speech patterns. Authors wanted to show that way of speaking by imitating other they had heard in their lives.
-Sasha
Hi Brianna, I agree that the purpose of African American Vernacular English is used to invoke the authentic experiences of black people, but I also see Sasha's point of how it's sometimes exaggerated in a way that ruins its authenticity. I think that the vernacular tradition is something that is always evolving in a way to attempt to become more empowering depending on the time period. In the end, the importance is the connection with culture and remembering the past.
ReplyDeleteHello Brianna, I really like your description of vernacular tradition as a mix of culture and historical remembrance. Personally, I saw vernacular as a way for African American people to express themselves stylistically and verbally. Authors were able to write precisely what they heard and spoke, even if it wouldn't typically be considered grammatically correct.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brianna! This was a really thought-provoking read! I like how you communicated the need to kind of preserve or express Black authenticity, and how that was done by transcribing vernacular dialect in writing works. This post makes me consider how the simple act of pronouncing words differently portrays deeper historical meanings. This historical meaning was especially well described when you wrote about how vernacular tradition passed down warnings and ways to survive the horrors of slavery.
ReplyDeleteHi Brianna, I like how you talked about how the vernacular made the stories feel authentic, as I had not heard anyone talk about this before. I also like how you pointed out how vernacular was associated with trustworthy advice like you pointed out in incidents in the life of a slave girl. Before reading this, I had just considered vernacular as a way that black people talked.
ReplyDeleteHello Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you described African American vernacular as preserving authenticity and a large part of storytelling. I also agree with Jonathan and think that the preservation of speech patterns within these texts serve as a snapshot of vernacular tradition at that time and it is still always evolving. Keeping the historical significance in mind does help us understand how it is deeply connected to one’s sense of identity and how we can see this in characters such as Liza Jane.
Hi Brianna! I loved how you were able to articulate your comparisons on how the black vernacular tradition presents itself in The Wife of His Youth and in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. I like how you present the vernacular tradition as showing up in multiple situations, and how black culture represents that. I also wonder if the differences in the ways that this representation of the oral tradition is shown in these stories can be connected to when they were written. As well as the messages that the authors were attempting to convey with their stories affecting how the vernacular tradition comes across in their writing.
ReplyDeleteBri,
ReplyDeleteI liked your emphasis on storytelling and how language is passed down in Black tradition and culture. I agree that in "The Wife of His Youth", we see a prime example of this through Liza Jane's character and relationship with Mr. Ryder. I think it also goes to say that not having that tradition and culture turns Black Americans towards the idea that certain vernacular is less than.
Hi Brianna, I like how you described African American literature that utilized vernacular tradition as giving the writing a sense of being personal and authentic. In the case of The Wife of His Youth, had vernacular tradition not been used, the story would feel much less impactful, as the way Liza talked made the reader feel that she was different from everyone else (in a positive way). It's interesting the ways different authors approach using vernacular tradition, as it's hard to have a given set of rules for something like it, but each story that utilizes it is an important step in preserving black culture. Overall, nice post!
ReplyDeleteHi Brianna!
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out the different ways vernacular tradition is shown in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and The Wife of His Youth. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl focuses on personal experiences and communal knowledge to show the realities of life under slavery, while The Wife of His Youth uses dialogue and oral storytelling to reflect culture, history, and identity within a community. Nice post!
Hey Brianna,
ReplyDeleteI like how much you emphasize the shared, passed-down part of the African-American vernacular tradition. The stories you focus on don't necessarily cover this, but it is nevertheless essential to understanding how deeply intertwined the tradition is with the characters who engage in it. I also appreciate how you show the tradition's importance both in survival situations (arguably its origin, considering the legacy of slavery) as well as in everyday life.
Hi Brianna! I thought your analysis of vernacular tradition through all the texts we've read was very interesting. I especially liked how you discussed vernacular tradition in "The Wife of His Youth." We can definitely see differences the way that Mr. Ryder and Liza Jane talk, which goes to speak to the oral vernacular tradition that you identify. With her words, Liza Jane conveys everything Mr. Ryder forgot in creating the Blue Vein Society, and I think that also adds to the importance of the vernacular tradition. Overall, great post!
ReplyDelete