Kwaku Ananse-The Trickster

 Today’s blog pertains to the folklore of Ghana. The emphasis will be on the role played by  the famous Kwaku Ananse- the spider as a protagonist in Ghanaian folktales. Ananse has featured in these Ananse tales for centuries in Ghana, especially in rural villages. As a protagonist, Ananse is almost always a villain, he is always playing tricks on innocent victims, most often, on members of his family-his wife Yaa, his first born Ntikuma, his big-belly, small-legged, and big-headed sons. He is uncharacteristically ruthless, selfish and insensitive, and  sees people as fools. 

When we were pupils at the Roman Catholic Mission School at Akaa,  a village in the Buem Traditional area, we used to devote some time every week telling Ananse stories. Sometimes, the teachers would invite an elderly person to the school to tell us new stories. It was a sort of a cultural education we received With great fanfare.

 The Ananse stories were not  mere edutainment: they always sought to teach us a moral lesson. 

Tomorrow I will narrate one of the Ananse stories  as a follow up to this introduction. This blog will include folktales or some aspects of  the African oral tradition., such as proverbs, dirges, libation etc. Thank you for reading my blog. Please feel free to post any comments.