Anansi: The spider, the man, the god

Shape shifter, time traveller, story teller

Coming from West Africa

Spinning his web through time, through space

From far away and long ago, to here and now

He spins his web everywhere, in the diaspora

Eintou Pearl Springer

THE COLONISERS and the enslavers before them did their job too well.

We sat in the lecture room listening to a Ghanaian describe the impact of Anansi stories on his life. He told of watching the stories on television as a child, becoming engrossed in the life of this Spider Man.

He then spoke about the debate in Ghana over what they should call their film industry, and how it could demonstrate the influence of Anansi on telling visual stories of the people of Ghana.

We were at a conference on African arts, so there were people from all over the world — professors, students, artists, storytellers and practitioners of Carnival arts. The room was approving of his stance that Bollywood, Nollywood (term for the Nigerian film industry) and others were simply variations of a North American ideology of film storytelling.

We thought that he was going to link his thesis to the power and symbolism of Anansi in determining what the Ghanaian film industry should be called.

Instead, he says that Anansi should not be referred to as Kwaku Anansi, Kwaku meaning “born on a Wednesday,” because there is no evidence to prove this. Then, he concludes his presentation by saying if Anansi is to be accessible to people all over the world, then he should be called something universal like “John.” The room went into an uproar.

Amina Blackwood-Meeks, revered Anansi storyteller from Jamaica, encapsulated the absurdity of his statement as she proclaimed in her twang, “But ah Jaan ees ah tilet.” Needless to say, for the rest of the conference, he was called as John, which he shamefacedly accepted, hopefully recognising how flawed his position was.

I was so disappointed to hear this man speak. But it confirmed what I have been hearing about the African continent and how distant it has become from itself.

Prof Hilary Beckles, vice chancellor of UWI, put it into context.

He pointed out that the continent is now facing, among others, the threat of evangelical Christianisation.

Thus, the indoctrination that began with enslavement and continued through colonialism has now taken hold. It is to the point where the very people who were told that their spiritual beliefs and cultural traditions were barbaric are now repeating this same message across the continent and in the diaspora.

Worse, they are not just repeating it, they believe it.

The enslavers and colonisers separated Anansi from his wise and god-like qualities, turning him into a lazy, cunning creature, symbolic of the flawed nature of the African.

The stories, spirituality, names, rituals, music — everything that gave the African strength — was demonised, ridiculed and systematically eroded. Fortunately, Anansi is from the Akan peoples of Ghana, the most warlike throughout enslavement.

The Coromantee were especially noted for their fierce, warlike nature and constant resistance.

1760 in Jamaica led by Tacky, 1763 in Guyana led by Kofi and 1770 in Tobago led by Sandy are just a few of the rebellions that shook the Caribbean.

So, John and others like him will no doubt continue to spread their sinister message to anyone who will listen. But they would do well to remember that Anansi know how to play fool to ketch wise. Him get the whole world to call him trickster, and mek them forget that all he people dem across the diaspora is warrior.

Crick crack! Dara Healy is a performance artist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN