ANANSI (aka Ananse, translates to spider), a West African folktale character, appears in stories generally told as part of the exclusively oral tradition of. all Akan-speaking tribes, as well as in diasporic groups in the US and the Caribbean. Also known as Kweku Ananse, Anansi-tori, Anansesem, and sometimes euphemistically as Aunt Nancy, Anansi is a trickster protagonist—a mortal rather than a god like his father, the sky god.
Associations with spiders are typical among trickster figures in West African folktales. Within many of these tales, Anansi interacts with archetypal animals like Lion, Tiger, Turtle, and Canary, and his representation in such tales takes on a more archetypal Spider character. However, Anansi is more human in other stories, especially when interacting with people. In some folktales, Anansi is said to have taught people to sow crops or to have sculpted man, to whom his father, Nyame, then gave life. Anansi is also said to have married a princess, won a singing contest, and found a magic stone—all deeds accomplished through trickery. While Anansi is successful in many of these stories, transforming weakness into virtue, he also falls victim to deceit.
One notable Anansi tale is “Anansi and Tiger.” In it, Anansi attempts to outsmart Tiger, only to find himself beaten by the monkeys he attempted to frame for his wrongdoings. Alongside his own tales, Anansi is also among the most adapted folktale figures. Certain stories, like “Anansi and the Tar Baby,” have been tailored to other iconic characters, like the infamous trickster Br’er Rabbit, who appears in Joel Chandler Harris’ 1881 collection, Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings. The story “Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby” was also adapted into Walt Disney’s animated motion picture Song of the South (1946). Anansi continues to appear in a number of modern adaptations.