The Tall Tale In American Folklore And Literature

To Carolyn Brown's mind, the tall tale is not necessarily an account of the adventrues of a larger-than-life hero, nor is it just a humorous first-person narrative exaggerated to outlandish proportions. It is as well an interaction between teller and audience a game played at the hazy border between the credible and incredible, a challenge and an entertainment at the same time. The tall tale is also a social statement that identifies and binds a folk group by flaunting the peculular knowledge and experiences of group memebers, and it is a tool for coping with a stressful or even chaotic world, for conquering life's problems by laughing at them.