One of the sessions we conducted under the theme ‘Global Fables’ was on Transatlantic fables, focusing on Brer Rabbit in the United States and Anansi the spider in the Caribbean.
They were originally tricksters in Africa, who travelled across the Atlantic through oral traditions of enslaved Africans, becoming an enduring part of their descendants’ cultural heritage. Huge thanks to the three brilliant speakers, Rachael Pasierowska, Emily Zobel Marshall, and Winsome Monica Minott.
Interestingly, the session highlighted crucial differences between these two trans-Atlantic tricksters. Brer Rabbit was appropriated by, and incorporated into, white American culture to uphold race politics, through Joel Chandler Harris’s collection of African-American fables Uncle Remus (1881) and Disney’s film adaptation of Uncle Remus, Song of the South (1946). Despite this, as Rachael’s paper demonstrated, Brer Rabbit fables, used in schools to educate enslaved children, taught them about their African oral storytelling heritage, helping them to form their identity against the oppressive racism that burdened them, albeit covertly.
In contrast, Anansi fables more freely flourished in the Afro-Caribbean communities. Anansi the spider offered a role model, as Emily puts it:
Anansi has a silver tongue, he’s a master storyteller, so that being able to be linguistically dextrous, being able to use language to outmanoeuvre your oppressors is key to these trickster stories. So enslaved people would draw from Anansi stories as a resource, as a as a strategy of resistance.
Our ‘Transatlantic Fables’ session featured a reading by Winsome from the beginning of her retelling of Anansi, titled The Travel of Ananse. Below is the recording of her story, along with her account of how it came to be. All the incredible illustrations on this page are by Winsome’s collaborator, artist Stefanie Thomas. Winsome also invited to our session another collaborator of hers, filmmaker Lukkee Chong. We will be posting the link to his Anansi cartoons below. Enjoy!
Winsome Monica Minott
My journeys with Ananse
Storytelling focused on Ananse incorporates myths, fables and ancestral heritage. As a child growing up in Jamaica Ananse tales were commonly shared in my family by a visiting gran-aunt who wished for us to be cunning and wise.
Much later in life, Ananse entered my sphere when a friend and client Lukkee Chong (a film maker) introduced the concept of reclaiming Ananse and changing the growing misuse of Ananse as a unreliable trickster who was untrustworthy. This challenge fell on good ground. As a writer I am acutely aware of my responsibility to challenge negative stereotyping associated with Africa and African derivatives. I targeted direct or indirect messages carrying negative connotations. I examined how words were employed, for example, how the word “black “ has been utilized for several generations in the Caribbean. For many years the term “blackheart man” has been used to frighten children. The misuse of the word ‘black ‘can leave deep psychological scars especially in children of colour.
Lukkee spearheaded a project by employing animation to re-present Ananse while re-telling traditional stories. The initial stories targeted toddlers and children up to age five. I decided to write stories targeting ages 7-12. I wrote anticipating Lukkee and the team would graduate to successive age groups, our projects are loosely connected. After writing five stories I sent the collection to a publisher in Kingston. A representative quickly expressed great interest. However, the representative asked for images to further portray these stories. I immediately contacted Stefanie Thomas, my artistic consultant, who at the time was living outside of Jamaica. I sent Stefanie the first story that ignited Ananse’s Travels, “The Bet”. In this story Ananse tried to find a solution that could ensure a win against Bredda Mongose. Ananse went from house to house, roof to roof listening and soon found himself in Brother Parrot’s ceiling. Stefane produced several images utilizing the spider web to link villages and communities for the consideration of the publisher. The publisher’s representative who was then very busy took a long time to get back to me. By this time, I had changed my focus to writing poetry, and with limited hours remaining after a hectic workday, I found it hard to return to my Ananse stories. I thank Dr Kaori Nagai for redirecting me to this space and allowing me to once again engage with Ananse’s cunning. In re-telling Anase tales I found it necessary to update his profile to capture the attention of youth today. Re-introducing him in the present makes the adaptation both more easily relatable and hopefully adds a comedic touch.
Please note that ‘Anansi’ is also spelled as ‘Ananse‘. Winsome Minott, having had discussions with the late Velma Pollard on several matters concerning Ananse, elected to use ‘Ananse’ as the more acceptable spelling. In my case, it was Dr Robbert Vassal, M.D., who told me of the spelling used by the Akan tribe from which Ananse originated. He has encouraged my efforts to pursue Ananse adventures and continue the culture. Revered in the Maroon community in Jamaica, he has empowered me to create this video. https://youtu.be/kDqpc-9qGtU .
Lukkee Chong is a Jamaican film and TV producer, who started work in the television production industry in 1972. He is passionate about telling authentic stories of Caribbean culture, and his many innovative projects include an animated exploration of the Akan character Brother Anansi, to present cultural narratives in a positive light. – profile
