New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-28
UNCLE REMUS.
HIS Superiority as "Underman" to
Nietzsche's "Superman."
BON ID London Nntlon

From The London Nation.
g. There Is humor of the Uebcrmensch. or
Superman which Is direct. automatic and sole
assertlve; II springs from knowledge and intut-
ton. as In Shakespeare and Nietzsche often
tu.d OF certain moral significance
FOR the consciousness OF Intellectual mower. -
Is personal But the humor OF Uncle Remus"
Is impersonal, for IL represents the ,,ndar,rorI
of the Underman without a conscious rbiios -
ply and without applied art. In the hands OF
the great poets and writer's humor is allied 10
cfitlclsIn In the stories of Uncle Remus"
humor is untrammelled by learning and unfet
tered by ordinary rules of ethics The unfath
Gn s charm lies In simplicity and naturalness
IN the relation established between the mind OF
the ignorant Underman and the primitive things
OF the natural world.
Most OF the vital words belong 70 the rrir,,.,,.,
world OF sentiment and sensation. and this is
why dialect Is always more intimate and insnu-
ating than classical prose. Put your ear To the
earth. says Lamennais. and you will feel the
tnIooDlhg OF the world; and this is what the
Dnderman has done in the stories OF Uncle
heihus. me people of natures world hear the
right sound. and sense the right mood: the in
depreciation is simple. direct, nGTre agreeing
with the habits. the humor and the cun1ins, 90
the animals OF the same world: for the ,,ss,r, -
iett 70 himself without any schooling is or va
the most entertaining of humOrists. because the
most natural and the most unconscious He lives
with his finger on the pulse of Nature win
learning. humor becomes strained or cynical
Chcie Remus is as willy as Brer Fox and as
simple as Brer Rabbit His humors fears in
terpretations and superstitions contain ali tbs
sensuous wisdom of the underworld as when r.
says Come down TO dat, Brer All dara afn,t
nOthin' dat amt cuus." He sounds the nota 80
universal philosophy. the note that made Aris
totle profound observer of the seeming LITTLE
thlngs In order 10 understand some OF the an
parent great ones. At the head as well os ~
tine root or human nature the impulse of curios
..,g, Is te dominant factor Indeed. the saying
mere Is nothing that Is not curious" is ths
beginning of AristOtelian science and the end of
Shakespearian philosophy. II is the ali i'm ali,
mere the overload descends to the level 81 ~,
Undernan. and the philosophical seer is ~
nearer Nature than Uncle Remus'' I'm all ~,
lsIotahGe ana seeming blindness. Uncle Renus''
and his kin are close observers OF natural tbi'a
the Things our superficial scientists overlook no
insignificant or without meaning; for science H.
oEi nay, mas; IN large measure. skipped the
aiPhaDet Oh lte 10 arrive at vocabulary of
negatives Men fail in business. i'm science i'm
ar III renglon. as soon rs they skip the small
thlhgs 10 grasp the bulky. Greatness does nor
consist I'M bulk. II was the inverted idea ~
greatness that made Napoleon Ronaparte INC
hIst CGoeFmcRSch OF modern politics. lose his
crown BISMARCK MS prestige and Nietzsche his
reason. ms
What these Overords needed was little 81
Brer Rabbits Wisdom-namely ito lie Low, an
say nufiin'-that is. after they had attained
the attainable Ambition at the intellectual Ton
Us TAR more dangerous than superstition at the
llhtefate bottom. There is pleny of supersti-
ton I'm Uncle Remus. but il is delightful ana
harmless. and certainly there is nothing de-
hghttui I'm the agonies of Napoleon. the hu-
initiation of Bismarck and the disease of Me
tzsche. In the realm of mystery the ITnderr,ar
Is the peer of Hamlet in the grave scene and In
'"N cS MdcbetH IN the
ence of the witches Uncle Remus saws no "a
spises fer ter heah dogs a-howlin' an snninch
Owls havin de ague. out in de woods and
that these things make his bones cold ana his
hesh creep" Even the redoubtable Lady Mac
beth haits on the threshold and listens 10 the
Owls scream. AT such times the oh, ntasna
Goria OF the night crowd into one brief mo-
ment. stars and planets are forgotten celestSoI
symbols give place to portents of the earth
the bosom OF the underworld begins 10 heave
Nature assumes voice. every sound beeomea
prophetic, in the moonlight of the Imagination
the curtains OF mystery sway and shift q reaIn,
or the mind is disclosed beyond the limits os
category, world without the sembIance OF a
name and without the quality OF number