BACKGROUND

There is hardly anyone in Ghana who does not know about ANANSE. For centuries, Ghanaian folklore has been replete with the exploits, escapades and bravado of ANANSE.

It could be said in all the regions of Ghana, stories about Kwaku Ananse are very common, are told to both children and adults. Rich proverbs and famous wise sayings have been built around ANANSE. The infamous slave trade, which took a large population of our ancestors to faraway lands, also “took” ANANSE away.

In fact Ananse is so popular in the Diaspora that we can safely say that he is an international character. In the Caribbean for example, ANANSE’S name has been corrupted; he is known as “Nancy” or even “Boy Nancy”.

But for his first name KWAKU (this is gradually becoming extinct) some other cultures would claim Kwaku Ananse as their citizen! Native to Ghana, Ananse has generated lots of stories. Though, such stories when told are enjoyed by both young and old, only a few have been documented in books.

Considering the current advancement in technology, reading either for scholarship or pleasure is diminishing. The world is fast becoming audiovisual oriented as TV, VIDEO and the INTERNET reign as the most popular media for entertainment, education and information. result children’s entertainment and education are gradually being taken over by these media, either by way of cartoons or video games.

This project then becomes very relevant considering the fact that our youth are fast losing touch with our culture, losing touch with Ananse. Another justification for this project is that our music and culture are losing their Ghanaian character. The moral lessons hitherto learned from these stories are gone. No wonder profanity has taken over our music.

Many people including Professor J. H. Nketia, Professor Ablade Glover, Professor George Hagan, Professor Kwesi Yankah, to mention a few, showed immense interest in this project and gave us their views. In one of our discussions, it was revealed that the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah made several attempts to revive Kwaku Ananse and immortalise him in the form of Ananse Classics, but the project was not fulfilled due to his overthrow.

It also came to light that a few other Ghanaians, Ato Delaquis, Esi Sutherland Addy, Kwesi Yankah have all made unique contributions to this cause. This will therefore be a means of reliving the dream of one of history’s most prominent individuals.

The views of these scholars both in the arts, entertainment and academia proved to enrich the project’s content. Besides, since authors are no longer writing Ananse stories this will be a good opportunity to get ideas to stock books on our shelves.