September 04, 2004

Anansi stories. Him be one fast tinkin' spider, mon.
posted by Jerry Garcia 20 years ago
  • Bwoy dem 'tory de funny bad ya know breda. De one 'bout de rat weddin' mek I laff till me almost pop.
  • The Ananse folk tales (fables so to speak) originated in Ghana, which is where i'm from and spread to the Caribbean and South America during the slave trade. The word Ananse is Akan (a major language spoken by about 10 million people in Ghana) and it literally means spider. Ananse's full name is Kweku Ananse, (spider born on wednesday) and the fables are used to teach children about life. More information here
  • I can almost grok what recluse-san said up there, but I had to read it three or four times. Good job!
  • For Neil Gaiman-philes, Anansi was one of the divine characters in American Gods, and the book he's writing now is called Anansi Boys.
  • Some of these are astonishingly similar to the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris, whose work was based on tales he heard from slaves.