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8/10/2019 Liminal Anansi
1/12
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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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Historyf
West
Africa
ince1800.London Macmillan.
Jckyll,
.
(1966).
Jamaican
ong
nd
Story:
nnancy
tories,
iggingongs,
ancing
Tunes nd
Ring
Tunes.New
York:
Dover
Publications.
Mbiti,
.S.
1969).
African
eligions
nd
Philosophy.
ondon:
Heinemann.
Mcl^eod,
M.D
(1981).
TheAsante.
ondon: British
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Neufeldt,
V.
&
Guralnik,
.
(eds)
( 988).
Webster's
New
World
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f American
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New
York,
Simon
&
Schuster.
Pelton,
Robert. D.
(1989).
The
Trickstern West
Africa: Study
fMythic
rony
ndSacred
Delight.
erkley:
niversity
fCalifornia ress.
Rattray,
.S
(1930).
Akan-Ashanti
olk-tales.
xford:
The ClarendonPress.
Vecsay,Christopher 1993).
Ananse
he
kan
Trickstern
Hynes,
William
ed.(1993).
Mythical
Trickster
Figures:
ontours,
ontextsnd
Criticisms.
uscaloosa:
University
f Alabama
Press.
Williamsjoseph.
J.
1934). Psychic
henomena
f amaica.
ew York: The
Dial
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