Anancy, also known as Ananse, Anansi, Aunt Nancy, Hapanzi and Nanzi, is a folklore character from Akan, which is an ethnic that resides in what is today the nation of Ghana, who has become famous throughout Africa, the countries in the Caribbean region. Anancy often takes the shape of a spider and is considered one of the most important cultural icon among West Africans and the Caribbean because of his insight, intelligence, and wisdom.
Stories of Anancy, or "spider tales", represent social, ethical, and moral lessons of Akan culture and they were orally spread from African communities to the Americas and the Caribbean, via the Atlantic slave trade.
Particularly, the Anancy poem has been divided into two parts; In the first part, Anancy thinks and memorizes the native culture of his country which once existed but has been lost now. And in the second part, Anancy weaves and recreates the lost culture by binding past stories, cultures, words, songs of Africa.
