Throughout the South, storytelling is a particularly rich form of verbal folklore. Stories can be sacred or secular, serious or funny, long or short, and performed by children or adults. Storytellers can be found on front porches, the corner store, the family dinner table - anywhere people tend to gather. Storytelling is not restricted to one particular culture group. Native American, African American, and EuroAmerican narrative traditions have deep roots in the South. In addition, much of the traditional music in South Carolina has a powerful storytelling aspect. Blues music usually incorporates storytelling into the song structure, as does much of the gospel, country, and ballad music performed from the hills of the upstate to the marshes along the coast.
Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.
For further information about any of the artists featured on Digital Traditions, send your questions and comments to hallagan@mailbox.sc.edu.
Video
Buford Mabry documented by Jack Doyle and his staff at the University of South Carolina Sumter's Center for Oral Narration.
Photo
West Africans brought to the South Carolina and Georgia coasts as slaves settled on geographically isolated plantations whose owners often were absent. Such conditions allowed lowcountry slaves to...
Photo
Anita Singleton-Prather is an entrepreneur, Gullah scholar, entertainer, and master storyteller. She brings Gullah culture to countless people through “Aunt Pearlie Sue,” a character inspired by her...
Video
Gullah storytellers often perform folktales that feature animals as the main characters. Aunt Pearlie Sue tells the story of "The Bossy Elephant" in English. After listening, compare how the same...
Video
Aunt Pearlie Sue tells the story of "The Bossy Elephant" using the Gullah Language.
Interactive
Listen to the interactive version of the Bossy Elephant in both English and Gullah. Storytelling performance by Anita Singleton Prather (Aunt Pearlie Sue)
Photo
Born and raised on a farm in the Stateburg area of Sumter County, Buford Mabry always told people there were two circumstances that mainly helped him become the storyteller he was. First was having a...
Document
Buford Mabry's Video Transcripts for "A Funeral Surprise" "The Mountain Coon" The First Motorcycle, Part 1 The First Motorcycle, Part 2
Photo
Having learned the art of Gullah storytelling from her parents and grandparents, Carolyn "Jabulile" White thought it only natural that she should share the stories with the community, and especially...
Audio
Description of the damage done to her church by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and the clean-up afterwards
