Liminal Anansi

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Liminal Anansi: Symbol of Order and Chaos An Exploration of Anansi's Roots Amongst theAsante of GhanaAuthor(s): Emily Zobel MarshallSource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 3 (September 2007), pp. 30-40Published by: University of the West Indiesand Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40654609.

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2/12

30

Emity

obel arshall

Liminal Anansi: Symbolof Order and Chaos

An

Exploration

fAnansi'sRoots

Amongst

heAsante

ofGhana

Emily

Zobel

Marshall

Introduction

The

word Anansi'means

spider'

n

the

wi

anguage

ftheAsante

eoples

f

the ormer oldCoast.

However,

s much f he

written

istory

f

he

Asante tarted

with

European

contact

here re

varied

debates

oncerning

nansi's

position

amongst

hem nd

speculative

nd

conflicting

ccounts

oncerning

nansi's oots

abound.

African

nthropologist

ohn

Mbiti

tates

hat

mong

heAsantethe

pider

symbolizes

wisdom"

nd for hat

eason,

od

is

given

he itle Ananse

Koroko"

whichmeans

heGreat

pider,

hat

s,

theWise One*

Mibiti,

969,

.

51).

Walter

Jekyll,arlywentiethenturyollectorfJamaicannansiales, riteshattheres a

Gold

Coast

radition

hich ffirmshehuman ace o

be

descended rom

spider.'

Other

nterpretations

laimthat he

Asantebelieved

Anansi o have

immense

spiritual

owers,

nd that

verything

hat

happened

n

the

world

was started

y

Anansi'

Jekyll,

966,

.

xxx).

This

article ill ootAnansi

irmlymongst

heAsante nd

demonstrate

he

ways

n which e

directly

eflected

ey

lements

f Asante

hought

nd

culture.

t

argues

hat

he ales

were

ot

nlymplemented

s vehicles or

olitical

iscourse,

ut

that nansiwastightlyound o traditionalsante eligiouseliefs. sweshall ec,

an

exploration

fAnansi's

ole

nthe ich

ultural

istory

f

he

Asante

will

eveal

he

original

ontent,

ontext

nd

ignificance

fthe tories

nd

help

ncover

he

easons

for

he

survival

nd

metamorphosis

f

this

aptivating

rickster

pider

nto

the

National

amaican

olk ero.

Anansi's

Roots:

The

Spinner

fAsanteLife

The Asante

ived

n

a

highly

utocratic

nd

hierarchical

ociety.

he

Asante

Kingdom

asformed

t

the

lose

fthe

7th

entury

hen

he

Asantehene'

r

King

'Osei*

utu

rought

ogether

confederation

f

Asante

hiefdoms

nder

is

ne

rule,

creating

powerful

ingdom.

he

strength

f

theAsante

Kingdom

ontinued

o

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3/12

AnansiiSymboldf

rdernd

haos

3

1

grow hroughouthe18thentury.highlyuccessfulrade etworkasdeveloped

selling

laves,

old,

kola nuts nd

vory

cross

he

Atlanticnd north

cross he

Sahara. Thanks to the combination f

their

unique

skillsof

craftsmanship,

agricultural

uccesses nd

strong ilitary

raditions,

heAsante

were

ble

to

expand

their

ingdom

o covermuch f

present

ay

Ghana

Isichei,

977,

.

60).

During

he 19th

entury

he

growth

f the

Asante

Kingdom

was

eventually

thwarted

y

heBritish.

ollowing

he

Asante's

nvasion

f

Fante ands

n

1806,

he

British,

earing

he

might

f

the

xpanding

sante

mpire, upported

heFante s

allies hrough series f warsbetween hetwoAkanfactions. he Britishinally

invaded

heAsante

Kingdom

n the

1870s,

lew

up

the

royal alace

n

the

apital

Kumasi

ndrazed he ntire

ity

othe

round.

y

1900 heAsante

were

efeated

nd

the

Asante

ingdom

as annexed o

the

British old Coast

olony.

Hie Asante

ept

many

f heirraditionslive

hroughout

he

eriod

fBritish

rule nd

nto he

20th

entury,

nd

writing

n the

early

980's,

historianf Asante

culture,

.D. McLeod states hat

lthough

heAsante

mbraced

many

orms

f

modernisation,

hey proudly

etain

many

f

their

ustoms,

isplay

he

ubtlety,

it

andsophisticationhich ervadeheirulture,nd actalways ith consciousness

oftheir

reat

ast'

McLeod,

981,

.19).

Traditional

sante

eligion

as

primarily

ased round

he

worship

f

piritual

forces

hat

tructuredhe

universe.

yame

as the

Omnipotent

reat

Deity

nd

resided

n the

ky Allyene,

988,

.

45).

According

o

Asante,

elief

yame

ent

is

children

own o earth

nd

they

ore

he

names

fthehills

nd

trees,

he

reat

akes

and

rivers

f

Asanteland,

nd

hey layed

he oles f esser

ods

nd

were alled

he

'Abosom.'

Nyame

ad

female

artner,

sase

Yaa,

who

was

often

epicted

s

an

old

woman; saseYaawasneither

yame's

ife orhis reation,ut hewastoNyame

what he

Queen

motherfthe

Asante

was

to

the

King;

he

hared

is

power

ut

he

has

no

power

ver

her

Pelton,

980,

.

65).

Prayers

ere

irected

o

both

he

male

and

female

ods,

withAsase

Yaa

representing

he

arth

nd

Nyame

he

ky.

Amongst

he

Asante

Anansi

ad a

day-name,

nd

was

namedKvaku

Anansi,

meaning

ednesday-born.

lthough

here re

many

ccounts

hich

escribe

nansi

as

an Asante

deity,

here s little vidence

o

support

he

theory

hat

he

was

worshipped

s a

god

n his own

right.

While

he was

n

continual

ontact

with

he

Nyame,

herereno

examples

f hrinesuiltnhishonour,

fferings

ade ohim r

prayers

Erected

owards

im. ike so

many

ndigenous

rickster

igures

nd

culture

heroes,

uch

s Brere

abbit

who

orginated

rom he

folklore

f

the

Bantu-speaking

peoples

f

South,

West nd

Central

frica,

t seems

hat

he

Asante

Anansi

was an

intermediary

igure.

e existed

halfway

etweenthe

earth

nd the

sky

nd

had

the



4/12

32

Emily

obel arshall

power

o restructureoth

heworld f the

divine ndthehuman.

urthermore,

or

theAsante ll

animals nd humans ere

elieved o be entwined ith he

piritual

world nd hare ome f

Nyame'

power,

o

rigid

istinctions

enoting

he evels f

divinity

etween

he esser

gods,

the

spirits, owerful

ersonages, ythological

figures

ndthe ncestors

ere omewhat

nnecessary.

The

Asante

Anansi

myths

xplain

ow Anansi

rought

othwisdom

nd

stories

o earth rom

he

realm

f

Nyame.

hese tales

xemplify

ow Anansiwas

bringer

fculture'sital lements

nd

ymbolise

is mmense

ower

s themediator

between umankindnd thegods; nthese aleswe see howAnansi ontrolledhe

fundamentalsf

civilisation,

isdom

knowledge)

nd stories

history).

owever,

Anansiof

the Asanteremains

multi-facetedreature or

as well

as

bringing

wonderful

hings

o

thehuman

ace,

uch s storiesnd

wisdom,

e

has darkeride.

He

is

nsatiably

reedy

nd

ommitsnnumerable

ruesome

cts

or

is wn

personal

gain.

He

disrespects

yame

nd

teals rom

im,

nd

his

relationship

ith

is

people

can

be even

more

ntagonistic

han

with

he

ky-God.

Anansi

continually

hows his

disregard

or

the

rules of

society

nd

communitynd theres a long istofhis antisocialcts.He is selfish,ustynd

deceitful. e breaks

ublic

rust

uring

famine,

atches

is

family

tarve

s

he

gorges

imself,

leeps

with ther

men'swives nd

f

he

helps

humans

t

s often

because

e will

ain

ome

form freward

or imself.

e

introduces

ebt,

ealousy,

diseases,

ontradiction,

nd

serpents

nd

monsters

nto

the

Asante

world,

nd

although

e

brings

nowledge

o

earth,

t

s

primarily

hrough

nger

nd

frustration.

The

Spider

nd

the

Shade Tree:

Discipline

nd

Displacement

ILS

Rattray,

ead

of

the

Anthropological

epartment

f

the

Asante

apital

Kumasi

n the

920s,

was

key igure

n

the

ollection

f

nformation

n

the

Asante,

and

his research

orms

he

main

body

of

early

0th

entury

uropean

writing

n

Asante

culture.

uring

the

1920's

Rattray

ollected

Anansi

tales

for his

text

Akan-Asbantt

olktales

1930).Rattray

imed

o

collect he

ales

t

their

ource

nd

o

do

so

visited emote sante

illages

nd

observed

heir

vening

torytelling

essions.

He would

notewhat

e consideredhe

best*

ale nd sked

he

toryteller

o

return

thenext

ay

nd

repeat

heir

tory.

he

tales

would hen

e written

own

nboth

wi

and

English,

ith s

little

diting

s

possible,

making

he

ollection valuable

nd

original

ource.



5/12

Anan'Symbolf

rder

nd

haos 33

In

his text

Rattray

bserves

how

the stories

of the

disgraceful

nansi were

acted out

by

the teller n an

extremely

omic and

realistic

manner.He

explains

hat

they

wereaimed

at

exposing

he

misconduct

f

powerful

ersonages;

he eller

would

bring

hecharacter o

ife,

mimicking

oth

their

movements nd voices. t seems that

an

Asante

man or

woman,

who

would

have

had a strict ode of social conduct to

adhere

oo,

could make use

of an Anansi tale to

criticise

igures

f

authority

uch as

the

lders,

heAsantehene

r even

the

Sky-GodNyame,

which

would,

s

Rattray

uts

it,

ordinary

e

strictly

aboo*

Rattray,

930,

p.

x). Rattray

ontinues:

If one had a grievance gainst fellowvillager, chief, r even the

King

of

Ashanti,

to hold

him

up

to

thinly isguised

ridicule,

by

exposing

some undesirable rait

n his character

greed, ealousy,

deceit

(they

ould)

ntroduce

he ffair s

the

etting

o some

tale.

A

slave

would

thus

xpose

a bad

master,

subject

his wicked

King.

Up

to

a

point

the

story

ellerwas licensed.

Rattray,

930,

p.

xi)

Therefore hetaleswere

mplemented

o

ventfrustrations

r

upset

n

a manner

thatwas considered

ppropriate

nd

legitimate

y

the Asante

Kingdom.

ndeed,

it

was an establishedpracticeamongstthe Asante to deflecttheircriticism f the

Kingdom

nd tsrulers n

to

other

hings.

n

example

an be found

n

themethod

f

talking

o the

shade

tree.'The

shade treewas a tree

f

great mportance

n an

Asante

village;

t

was seen as

synonymous

ith he

chief

f

the

village

r the

King,

and their

spirits

erebelieved

o

find

efuge

n ts

boughs.

As McLeod

states

the

spiritual

tate

of the whole town

was connected

with hese

trees/

nd

it had

to be

protected

t

all

times.

Often

villagers

would 'talk

to

the shade

tree*

nd verbalize

the

things hey

would have iked

o

say

to the

chief r

King.

Furthermore,

he

expression

to tear

he

leavesof theshadetree'was a guardedwayof sayingto cursetheKing' (McLeod,

1981,

p.

30)

Furthermore,

t was not

just

Anansi

who

played

havoc

with

the

power

structures

f

the

Asanje

Kingdom;

they

had

several

practices

which

nvolved the

celebration

f

the

nversion

f social

rules.At the

annual

Odwira

festival,

elebrated

from

eptember

o

October,

the roots of

which

go

back

to

the

start f the

Asante

Kingdom,

the

ordinary

ules of

behaviourwere turned

upside

down.'

During

the

festival

he

King

would

wear

barkdoth,

the

garb

of the

poorest

lave

n

the

realm,'

n

contrast o theelaborate obes he normallyonned McLeod, 1981,p. 37).

The Asante

had

a

love

of

oratory

nd

delighted

n

word-play

nd

long

discussions,

which

is

exemplified

n their

trong

torytelling

radition.

hey

also

believed

hat t

was

wrong

o

fight

nd

kill

when

conflicts

ould

be resolved

hrough

discussion.

Europeans

have

contributed

reatly

o the

image

of the

Asante

as



6/12

34

Emily

obel arshall

bloodthirstyarriors,et visitor

rom

urope

o

theKingO seiBonsu's ourt,t

the

eginning

f he 9th

entury,eported

hat he

King

had a maximssociated ith

the

religion

e

professed,

ever

o

appeal

o

the word

while he

path ay pen

for

negotiation'

Isichei,

1977,

p.

62).

Furthermore,

he

Anansi themselves ales

undoubtedly

eflect faith

n

the

ower

fwords o

resolve

onflicts.

However,

herewas a strictet of

rules o be adhered o

if

one wanted o

criticise r

mock the

powerful

hrough

he medium f an Anansi

ale,

which

protected

he

eller rom

ausing

ffence.

irstly,

he alesmust

nly

e told fter

nightfall.econdly,heremust eapublic isclaimerade efore he tartnd tthe

end

of

the each

story

o show that he taleswerenot

strictly

rue.

n

Rattray's

collectionhese

onsist fthe onstant

epetition

t the

eginning

f

each ale

f

the

formula;

wedo not

eally

ean,

e

do not

eally

ean

that

hatwe are

going

o

say

is

true)'

Rattray,

930,

.

55).

At

the nd the

toryteller

ould

ay:

this,

my tory,

which have

elated,

f

tbe

sweet,

or)

f

tbe not

weet,

ake ome

lsewhere,

nd et

some omeback

o

me'

p.

59),

or

alternatively

some

youmay

ake s

true,

ndthe

rest

oumay

raise

me

for

he

elling

t) (Rattray,

930,

.77).

Liminal

Anansi:

Symbols

f Chaos and Order

We can

conclude hat he

Anansi ales

layed

vital

olitical

ole s a medium

for

members

ftheAsante

ommunity

o air heir

otentially

ivisivessues

ublicly

in

a controlled

anner. his

public

iring

ould

nd

n

resolutionr

simply

iffuse

negative

motions

nto

laughter

nd

mockery;

hus

avoiding

he build

up

of

resentmentndretribution.

owever,

e are till

aced

with

he

iscrepancy

etween

Anansi's haotic nd crude ctsand thestrictmorals nd

principled

orms f

behaviourommon

o

the

Asante

eople.

ven

Rattray

escribes is

urprise

t

the

contradiction

etween he

often

otentially

ffensive

ontent f

the

ales nd the

disciplined,

ophisticated

nd

well-mannered

sante.

n

the

following

ale

from

Rattray's

ollection,

ranslated

y

Rattray

o

mirror

he

anguage

tructures

nd

rhythms

f

the

riginal

tory

old n

Twi,

we

find

xamples

f

Anansi's

iolent nd

crude

ehaviour,

s well

s

a

warning

f

the

dangers

f

hypocrisy.

n

the

tory

he

character

alled

Hate-To-Be-Contradicted'

ells nansi

lie

bout

he

alm

uts hat

grow ear ishome:

"When

hey

re

ipe,

hree unches

ipen

t

once;

when

hey

re

ipe

cut

hem

own,

nd

when

boil

them o

extract

he

oil,

hey

make

three

ater

ots

ull

f

oil,

nd

take

he il o

Akase,

o

buy

n

Akase

old

woman;

he

Akase old woman

omes

and

gives

birth

o

my



7/12

AnansvSymboldf

rdernd Chaos

35

grandmother,ho bearsmymother, hat he in turnmaybear me.

When mother ears

me,

am

already tanding

here."

Aware thatHate-to-be-Contradictedills those

who

contradict

im,

Anansi

tells

him

a lie

n

return:

The

Spider

said,

"you

do not

ie,

what

you say

s

true;

s

forme I

have some

okras

standing

ear

my

farm,

nd when

they

re

ripe,

join

seventy-seven

ooked

poles

(to

reach

hem o

pull

them

down),

but even then

hey

o not

reach,

o

I lie on

my

back,

and

am able to use

my

penis

to

pluck them."(p.lO7)

When

Hate-To-Be-Contradicted

isitsAnansi' home

the

spider's

hildren

re

instructed

o tell

him thathis

penis

has broken

n

seven

different

laces

and he has

gone

to

the blacksmiths

o

get

t

repaired.

Anansi and

his

family

ontinue o lie to

Hate-To-Be-Contradicted

ntil e can

stand t

no

longer

nd contradictshem.

When

he has done

so Anansi

tells

him that since

he,

Hate-to-be-Contradicted,

as

contradicted

omeone,

his

son Ntikuma

must "beat

him so

he

may

die." Ntikuma

does so with

vigour

nd Anansi

proceeds

to cut

up

his flesh nd

scatter t

about,

nd

'that s

whymany ersons

who

hateto be

contradictedre

found

n

the ribe*

Rattray,

1930,

p.

109).

Anansi

of

the Asante

could

not

only

break the

boundaries

of social

acceptability,

ut

he could also

inhabit

he

dangerous

one of

the

pirit

orld nd

the

wild

bush,

o

feared

y

Asante.

As we

shall

ee,

theAsantewere

people

preoccupied

with he

boundaries

etween he

human

world

nd

the

unknown

world

of

spirits

nd

unfathomable

orces,

oundaries

which

Anansi

continually

ests.

Until

the

end

of the 19th

entury

he

verygeographical ayout

of

an

Asante

villageor townreflected hepreoccupationwiththe dividebetween the forcesof

nature

nd

culture.

Obsessed with

leanliness,

he

Asante

threw ll unclean*

hings

onto

a

space

(a

midden)

at the

peripheries

f their

villages.

The unclean

ncluded

household

nd

bodily

waste s well

as

the

orpses

of

people

that

hey

eemed as

being

'incomplete/

ncompletebeings

were

those

believed

to be

witches,

hildren

who

were

not

complete

beings

until

dolescence),

nd those

who

had

died

from

minous

deaths

due

to

the

uncontrollable

orce

f

nature;

or

xample

being

killed

by

a wild

animals,

rushed

by falling

reesor

struck

y ightning

McLeod,

1981,

pp.

38-40).

Fringe areas of the villagewere also used as village latrinesand for housing

menstruating

omen

(who

were deemed

'unclean*

nd

dangerous)

as

well as

for

burial

grounds

nd

temples

to

respect

he

gods

as

well as

to control heir

ntry

nto

the

human

world).

These

fringe

ones

were

places

intertwined

n

the minds of the

Asante

with

the

'intermediary,

r

special

conditions

or entities.'

Beyond

these



8/12

36

Emify

obel

arshall

intermediaryones laythebush, nd as McLeod states the bush and thevillagewere

stronglypposed

in Asante

thought*

McLeod,

1981,

pp.

38-40).

The Asante believed

that all human

activities hould take

place

in the

village,

o child houldbe conceived

or bom

in the

bush,

and to die

in

the bush was

both

horrifying

nd

disgraceful.

place

of

chaotic wild

forces,

full

of

spirits

nd

superhuman eings

who threatened

umankind,

he bush was the ultimate ontrast

to the

carefully

rderedAsante

village

r town.The

intermediary

midden*

one

that

separated

he

town and

the

forest,

he

dwelling

nd the

bush,

associatedwith

death,

theunclean nd the upernatural,as a symbolic s well as a physicallyistinct one

(McLeod,

1981,

p.

40).'

A

small ow barrier

f thin

ogs

were

traditionally

laced

in

this

zone,

across the

edge

of the

village,

orman's

protection gainst

he wild and

fearsome orces f thebush.

This

great

distinction,

oth

geographical

nd

symbolic,

etween the civilised

humanworld nd the

wilderness,

nfluencedmuch of Asante art nd s

today

ntegral

to our

understanding

f the Asante's fascination iththeir olk

hero Anansi.

f

we

takethis

lement f Asante

thought

nd

custom

nto

account t seems

ogical

that

peopleso focused n theopposition nd boundaries etween rder nddisorder,he

clean

and

the

unclean,

he acred

nd the

profane,

ulture nd

nature,

hould revel

n

tales that

portray

nansi

fearlessly

reaking

own

and

transgressing

hese divides.

Anansi,

mbiguous

trickster,

nhabits nd restructuresoth the natural nd human

world,

and shows no

fear n

the

crossing

of boundaries.

He

is

a

great

hero

who

bravely

climbs to

places

where an Asante would

only

dare to tread

in their

imaginations.

T.E.

Kyei,

in his

autobiographyMy

Childhood

mongst

he

Asante

(2001),

describeshismemories f

walking hrough

darkforestwithhis father s a

young

boy

back to his

hometown,

Kwaaman.

He

explains

his

feelings

f excitement

nd

fear s he

passes

what

he believes to be

Kwaku

Anansi's

village,

nd

he

imagines

Anansi

and his

family

n

their

wellings

eep

within

he forest:

As the

physical

body

entered the

impenetrable

orest,

he

mind

roamed

wildly

n

the realmsof

fantasy

nd

the

many

stories

had

heard told at

our

Anansisem

(story) telling

nights

at

Kwaaman

became

realities.

imagined hings.

he smallAbedimsabi

village

we

had

just

passed

was

Anansi-kurom

hereindwelt

the

wily,

uileful,

worldy-wise

waku

Anansi and

his

familyKyei,

2001,

p.

4).

The

Anansithat

Kyei

envisions

s

unsettling

ecause

he nhabits

liminal

pace.

The term iminal

s

derived

from

he latinword

'limen'

meaning

threshold.'

he



9/12

AnansiSymboldf

rdernd haos 37

liminal an be described s a *betwixtnd between'space on thethreshold etween

boundaries r

binary

onstructions,

space

n

which

perceptions

r conditions lend

and transformationccurs. This term

erfectly

escribesAnansi's characteristicss

well

as his role

n

Asante culture

(Neufeldt

&

Guralnik,

988)

'Liminal1s a word

which

resists

traightforward

efinition,

ut t s the

very

omplexity

nd

ntangibility

of

the

term hatmakes

t so

appropriate

when

discussing

Anansi.

Anansi

is liminal because he is a Shamanic

shape-changer

nd master

of

transformation

nd

metamorphosis.

s we have seen he inhabits

hybrid pace

on

the threshold etween he humanworld and thenon-human,nd fromhisposition

on the

peripheries

he tests

any

established boundaries. Anansi's

actions are

simultaneously

estructive

nd

creative

nd his

iminality

ies n his

ability

o nvert ll

social

rules.

n

theAsante

storieswe see

him

disconnecthis own

body parts,

at his

own

children,

buse

his

guests,

nashamedly

gnore

hetruth nd

totally isregard

he

sky-god

Nyame.

Anansi has free

eign

o do

anything

e

pleases.

Nevertheless,

Anansi

is not

just

a force

for

change

and

mayhem,

he

also

has the

power

to

bring

bout

order and structure.

s

the

Priest,

R.D

Pelton,

rightlyointsout:

Anansi revealsthe Asante

understanding

hatthere an

be no

pure

centrifugality.Just

s the

urning

f the entre

reates

movement

way

from the

centre,

o Anansi's

movement

away

fromorder

creates

order.

He

shows the

power

of

liminality

recisely y stressing

ts

negation

f

ordinary

tructure'

Pelton,

1980,

p. 36).

liminality,

which

evidentlypreoccupied

Asante

thought,

signals

the

reversal

f social

structure

nd

yet

t

is the

very iminality

f the

Anansi tales that

brought

bout

social

unity

or he Asante

by

accepting

nto their

ociety

he

darker

forces

which a social

system ormally

ries

o

eradicate. t

was

precisely y

acting

completely

pposite

to

conditioned

forms

of human

behaviour

and

testing

he

limitations

f

the

Asante

moral code

that

Anansi

was

able to set

and

strengthen

hierarchical

sante social

structures.

nansi

was a

re-creative orce

ecause while

he

structure

f Asante

society

was

challenged

y

his

iminality

twas also

simultaneously

regenerated

nd

reaffirmed

y

t.

The

force

forchaos

ultimately

rought

bout

an

improved ocial order.



10/12

38

Emify

obel arshall

Analisi, pinnet

ftheSocial Web

TheAsante nansi ales re

n

many

ays

ymbolic

f he

Asante

midden';

he

powerful

iminaln-between

pace

full f human

waste,

ncomplete eings

nd

incomprehensible

orces.

Both the tales nd themidden cted s intermediaries

betweenife

nd

death,

ature

nd

ulture,

he

pirit

nd hehuman orld. s births

linked o death he

preoccupation

ith eath

n

thetales lso forms

art

f their

regenerative

ssence.

t

celebrates

cyclical

ather han inear

pproach

o life n

which he ottingorpses inked othe regnantother ithinhe ircle f reation.

The Asante

mphasised

he

priority

f the

community

ver the ndividual

(Vecsey,

993,

.

118).

Therewere

trongbligations

othe

roup

nddeviationrom

thenorm ould

esultn

banishment,

he ltimate

unishment

or memberf uch

tight

ommunity.

n

contrast

ith heAsante

eople

Anansi s theultimate

oner;

without

riendsnd

often

ven

estranged

rom is

family,

e

has

no sense

of

community

ies r

obligation

o others.

owever,

s

Anansi

wreaks avoc he ales

portray

very

ell-ordered

ociety

oing

n around

im.

While e s

scheming

nd

stealingndviolatinghe ules, isneighbours,ncontrast,re eam layers;heyre

plantingrops,

ooperating

nd

obeying.

s Anansi hreatensocial rder he

ther

characters

n

thetales

uphold

t,

gain

eaffirming

faith

n

the tructuresf

the

Asante

ommunity

Vecsey,

993,

.

119).

The function

fthe ales

n

their

sante

etting

asto aid the

harmony

f the

Asante ocial

ystem

s a whole.Both

philosophical

nd

comical ommentaries

n

life,

hey

were sedas a

medium

or

egotiation

nd as

a

temporary

elease rom

controlled

nvironment.s the

elease

as

temporary

nd

only cceptable

n

certain

contextsttestedhe imits fAsante odesof behaviour ut n

doing

o redefined

and

strengthened

ts

boundaries.

ather

han

having

'blind

aith*

n

their

ocial

structures,

hrough

he

medium f

Anansi heAsante

ncorporated

cepticism

nto

their elief

ystems,

nd

bydoing

o

made hem othmore esilient

nd

profound

(Vecsey,

993,

.

121).

Following

heAnansiThread:

From

Messenger

fthe

Gods to

Muse ofthe

People

From

he

16th

o

the19th

entury

housands

f

Akan

laves

were aken rom

the

ormer

old

Coast

nd

hipped

o

Jamaica

ndother

arts

fthe

Caribbean.he

Portuguese

ort

f

El

Mina,

uiltn

1482,

was

the irst

uropean

ortificationn the



11/12

AnansvSymboldf

rder

nd Chaos 39

Gold

Coast,

and

Akan slaves

taken fromthe

vicinity

f the fortress ere names

'Cromanti'

by

European

colonials

(Allyene,

1988,

p.

30).

The Cromantis

were

a

combination f tribal

roups

of

Akan

origin

nd had

a

reputation

or

being

fierce

fighters

nd

defended

hemselves

gainst

raders nd

planters

n both African

nd

Caribbean

oil.

However,

imilarly

o

their

ole

n

West

Africa,

n

Jamaica

heAsante

emerged

s the dominant ultural

roup

and influenced

amaican

lave

culture o a

greater

egree

han

ny

other

f their

Akan

or Cromanti

ounterparts. ey

elements

of

Jamaican

lave culture

hat an be traced

directly

o theAsante are evident

n

the

prevalence

fAsante

Twi words

n the

anguage

f the

Jamaican

laves,

he

popularity

of

Asante

deities

n

the

slave's

religious

beliefs

and the continueduse of Asante

day-names

or

lave children.

As

Joseph

Williams

xplains,

while the

popularity

f

African

ay-names

was not

confined o

thedescendants

f theAsante

alone,

it

s

the

Ashanti

terminology

hat s

uniformly

ollowed

n

the

day-names, ndicating

ow

complete

the

ascendancy

f

the Ashanti

became over

the entire lave

population.'

The

idea

that he

ascendancy

f Asante

culture

was

complete

ay

be

questionable,

ut

it is

clear

that the Asante

and

their ustoms

played

a

key

role

in

development

f

Jamaican

lave culture

Williams,

979,

p.

28).

The

Asante slaves

bought

he

talesof their rickster

ero

with hem o

Jamaica,

and the

stories

became

popular

n the

plantations.

owever,

t seems

thatwhereas

Anansi

both

tested and

strengthened

he social rules of

Asante

society,

n

the

Jamaican

plantation

ontext,

Anansi

inverted ocial order without

paradoxically

upholding

t. n other

words,

Anansi's

iminal

orcewas

interpreted

ifferently

n the

Jamaican

lantations

s

he functioned

s

a

symbolic

estructor f

an enforced nd

abhorrent

ocial

order,

rather han

the

tester

f the boundaries of

a

system

with

compliantmembers.

In

the

Jamaican

Anansi tales

all

interaction

with the

spiritual

world

is

lost;

Nyame

s

replaced

by

Tiger.

Anansi becomes

less

spider

nd more man as

he

begins

to

symbolise

he

black

slave stolenfrom

Africa.

He is

depicted

s

talking

ith

lisp,

forhis

patois

s

heavily

nfluenced

y

Twi

language

tructures

nd

pronunciation.

is

actions

eem

even

moreviolent nd remorseless

nd

many

lements f

plantation

ife

enter

nto

the

tales

such

as

Massa,

the

whip

and the

cane

fields.

Using

Anansi tactics

the slave

implemented

methods of

survival

and

psychologicalnd physical esistance; inding aysto do lesswork, at morefood,

trick

nd

steal

fromMassa and

generally

sing

brains

over

brawn.

t

is said

that

he

escaped

slave

Paul

Boggle

shod

his horse

back-to-front

o

deceive

British oldiers

n

pursuit

f

his

trail,

nd

the

Maroons

used

Anansi

tactics

o

hide,

outwit nd

terrify

their

ursuers

n

Cockpit

Country,

he

rugged

nd

largely

naccessible

hills

f

nland



12/12

40

Emily

obelMarshall

Jamaica. nansiwas forced ometamorphoserommythicalsante pider

n

to a

representation

fthe

lack lave

rapped

n a social

ystem

n

which

egotiation

as

an

mpossibility.

n

his

Jamaicanetting,

nansiwasbreakeratherhan esterfthe

chains. e becomes

ymbol

fcreativehaos

nd

onged

or

reedom

n a

tyrannical

and

coercive rder.

The

ourney

nd survivalfAnansi

hroughout

amaican

istory

nd culture

exemplifies

he

ways

n

which

lavery

ailed

n

ts

ttempts

o

destroy

he

pirits

f ts

victimsrtoeradicate

ertain

spects

f heirenaciousultural

racticesransported

fromWestAfrica. uchoralnarrativesepresenteduchmore hat reminderf

'roots':

hey

lso

operated

s

parables

f

urvival,

ales

n

which heweak an

anddo

-

prevail

ver

he

trong.

n

their

amaican

etting

he ales

epresented

he laves

wildest

reams;

n

which he

powerless

ecome

powerful,assive

ictim

ecomes

active

gent

ndthe

wretched

nherit

he

arth.

References

Isichei,Elizabeth 1977).A

Historyf

West

Africa

ince1800.London Macmillan.

Jckyll,

.

(1966).

Jamaican

ong

nd

Story:

nnancy

tories,

iggingongs,

ancing

Tunes nd

Ring

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York:

Dover

Publications.

Mbiti,

.S.

1969).

African

eligions

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ondon:

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Mcl^eod,

M.D

(1981).

TheAsante.

ondon: British

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Neufeldt,

V.

&

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(eds)

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New

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Robert. D.

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.S

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olk-tales.

xford:

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Liminal Anansi

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