一篇GRE阅读题讨论 - ChaseDream

Extendeddebate concerning the exact point of origin of individual folktales told byAfro-American slaves has unfortunately taken precedence over analysis of thetales’ meaning and function. Cultural continuitieswith Africa were not dependent on importation and perpetuation of specificfolktales in their pristine form. It is in the place that tales occupied in thelives of the slaves and in the meaning slaves derived from them that theclearest resemblances to African tradition can be found. Afro-Americanslaves did not borrow tales indiscriminately from the Whites among whom theylived. Black people were most influenced by those Euro-American tales whosefunctional meaning and aesthetic appeal had the greatest similarity to thetales with deep roots in their ancestral homeland. Regardless of where slavetales came from, the essential point is that, with respect to language,delivery, details of characterization, and plot, slaves quickly made them theirown.