I wrote about Twain's specific engagement with the "Confidence Man" figure,
a specifically C19 US iteration of the trickster, for *Mark Twain Journal *some
years ago: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24612794

But the go-to has to be Jeanne Campbell Reesman's collection, *Trickster
Lives, *which includes two essays on Twain, by Sacvan Bercovitch and
Lawrence Berkove.

*Matt Seybold, PhD*
Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies
Scholar-in-Residence, Center for Mark Twain Studies
Editor, MarkTwainStudies.org
Host, The American Vandal Podcast
<https://marktwainstudies.com/the-american-vandal-podcast/>

Peterson Chapel Vestry, Cowles Hall
[log in to unmask]
MattSeybold.com
<https://www.elmira.edu/>


On Thu, Feb 9, 2023 at 11:53 AM John Peter Zavez <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> If you're a fan of irony, the ultimate Twain Trickster is ... Jim.  The
> "Jim's Journey Homeward" trilogy develops this theme more fully though
> implicitly.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Scott Holmes
> Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2023 11:32 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Mark Twain and the Trickster motif
>
> Just now side-tracked from considering the accusations of "racism" in
> Twain's and Joel  Chandler Harris' works, I'm looking at the use of the
> Trickster.  I did come across what looked like a very nice essay on the
> subject but it was part of one of those web sites devoted to supplying
> students with ready-made papers.  It allowed me to read the first page but
> required payment for anything more than that.  I do not want to support
> such endeavors.
>
> Anyway, my brief bit of googling as not turned up much so I'm asking here
> if there are suggestions as to legitimate sources in this.  Just on the
> surface I can recognize tricksters in much of Twain's work, including both
> Huck and Tom as tricksters.  There is Brer Rabbit in the Uncle Remus
> Tales;  much of the Arabian Nights tales involves tricksters; and perhaps
> even Twain's acceptance of the Hiawatha stories.  In the later case he is
> mistaken as the legitimacy of the tales as Ojibwa legends but they  do
> reflect the tales of the trickster Manabozho.
>
> --
> /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
>