Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman
You already know Jack, the boy who grew a beanstalk to the clouds and stole a giant’s riches, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Jack Tales are a massive category of stories, spanning the U.K. and the U.S., about a poor boy who triumphs again and again despite overwhelming odds. In addition to besting giants, Jack also defeats dragons, tricks his brothers, and marries the most beautiful girl in town. He’s the ultimate underdog whose cleverness and luck keep him one step ahead of everyone else.
The particular popularity of Jack Tales in Appalachia emphasizes the fact that—although often stereotypically perceived as poor, isolated, and uneducated—the people of Appalachia are typically clever, resourceful underdogs themselves who are willing to fight for their success and each other. Traditional storytellers from the area, particularly the Hicks-Harmon family, emphasize these traits in their tales, using Jack as a way of rejecting misconceptions about themselves and their neighbors.
Folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman do a deep dive into Jack Tales. They examine key differences between these stories as they’re told in the U.S. vs. the U.K.; explain why Jack resonates as a hero; and reveal why his tales have endured when so many other fairy tales have faded in the U.S. The lecture also includes prompts for audience interaction.
Cleto and Warman are former instructors of folklore and literature at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.
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