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This website is now just an archive.
Please visit http://virgilstorr.org/ to access Dr. Virgil Storr's research and CV.
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B’ Rabby as a True-True Bahamian
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Rabbyism as Bahamian Ethos and Worldview in the Bahamas’ folk tradition and the works of Strachan and Glinton- Meicholas
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Journal of Caribbean Literatures, 6 (1), 2009.
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Abstract
Dundes (1971) and others have argued that folklore, which includes myths, legends, storytelling, songs and images, is a source of both folk ideas, “basic premises” that are “the building blocks of worldview,” and folk values, the “normative postulates” that inform our moral judgments. Although talking ol’ story is a dying tradition in the Bahamas, the once popular tales may nevertheless be a valuable source of insight into Bahamian belief systems and cultural practices. Similarly, B’ Rabby the trickster, the dominant character in Bahamian folk narratives, might still have a great deal to teach us about Bahamian models of and for the world. Especially, since contemporary authors continue to give voice to many of the folk ideas and values that are so clearly evident in the B’ Boukee and B’ Rabby tales. It is my contention that Bahamian orature, as well as, novelists like Ian Strachan and satirists like Patricia Glinton-Meicholas represent the Bahamas as a nation peopled with B’ Boukee and B’ Rabby figures and depict Bahamian society as one dominated by Rabbyism, an ethos and worldview which celebrates cunning over hard work but views greed as an unpardonable vice.
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virgil storr, ph.d.
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
3301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 450, Arlington, VA 22201
(703)993-8127; fax: (703) 993-4935
vstorr@gmu.edu
Last Updated: June 2010
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