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trickster tale

in oral traditions worldwide, an anecdote of deceit, magic, and violence perpetrated by an animal-human with special or magical powers. Usually grouped in cycles, these tales feature a trickster-hero who within a single society may be regarded as both creator god and innocent fool, evil destroyer and childlike prankster. In psychological terms, the trickster may be said to serve as a sort of scapegoat figure onto which are projected simultaneously the fears, failures, and unattained ideals of the source culture.

Trickster stories may be told in a variety of situations ranging from those purely for amusement and entertainment to serious, sacred occasions. Either a single tale is told or the narrative may be a complex series of interrelated incidents. The characteristic trickster tale is in the form of a picaresque adventure: the trickster was “going along”; he encountered a situation to which he responded by knavery or stupidity; he met a violent or ludicrous end; and then the next incident is told. Frequently, he is accompanied by an animal companion, who either serves as a stooge or tricks the trickster.

Until recently, collection, examination, and comparison of trickster tales and trickster figures have been concentrated upon those of North American Indian groups. Coyote, the trickster of tales from California, the Southwest, and the plateau region, is perhaps the most widely known. In the Pacific Northwest, the trickster is the Raven, Mink, or Blue Jay, each of which is also viewed as a transformer figure, responsible for bringing the ordered world out of chaos, and a culture hero, credited with transmitting the skills of survival, such as fire making, from gods to men. Wisakedjak, anglicized to Whiskey Jack, is a cultural hero trickster of the Eastern Woodlands. Another is Nanabozho (the Hare), who in the Southeast is called Rabbit and who became identified with the African hare trickster as Brer Rabbit. Among numerous Plains peoples, the trickster is an anthropomorphic figure frequently called “Old Man.” Common North American motifs include the false bridegroom who boasts of supernatural powers but is exposed as an impostor and is deserted by his wives; the eye juggler, an animal who plays ball with his eyes and finally loses them; and a contest between the beaver and the porcupine, in which the beaver invites the porcupine to swim and the porcupine invites the beaver to climb.

South American tricksters include Fox of the Chaco people, who is always bested, and the Twins of the Amazon region, one of whom plays tricks that end badly and are then repaired by the other, a culture hero.

In East, Central, and southern Africa and in the western Sudan, the trickster is the hare. In West Africa, the spider (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone) or the tortoise (the Igbo and Yoruba people of Nigeria) is the trickster. Many African tribes also have tales about human tricksters (e.g., the stories of Yo in Benin).

In most African cycles the trickster is an underdog figure, smaller in stature and strength than his opponents (thus gaining the audience's sympathy) but much cleverer and always well in control of the situation. He is ruthless, greedy, and a glutton and often outwits his opponent through a calculating suaveness combined with sheer lack of scruples. Each cycle centres upon a particular prey, such as the hyena, lion, or elephant. The trickster's victim is usually earnest, hardworking, and slow-witted and soon yields to the smooth arguments and attractive promises of his opponent. Although in an occasional cycle the trickster is an admirable figure, in most, any good that results from his actions is inadvertent.

In other African tales, particularly those of the spider Anansi, the trickster often appears as a mythological figure, rival of the sky god, who steals the Sun or tricks him in one way or another. In this function he shows some similarity with the Yoruba trickster god Eshu, who constantly opposes the other gods and thwarts their intentions.

African slaves brought trickster tales with them to the New World. In the United States the trickster hare became Brer Rabbit, whose adventures were first given literary form in the late 19th century by Joel Chandler Harris in a series of tales supposedly told by a wise, old black character called Uncle Remus.

In Japan, Kitsune is a trickster fox renowned for his mischievous metamorphic abilities. He is regarded in Shinto lore as the messenger who ensures that farmers pay their offerings to the rice god. Buddhist stories, however, cast the fox as an evil agent of possession.

Numerous Oceanian tales recount the creative exploits of the trickster Maui, or Maui-tiki-tiki, such as his fishing out the land from the sea. See also Coyote; Raven cycle.

Copyright © 1994-2005 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.