Amongst all the African folktale characters that exist, Kwaku Anansi is the most popular and important. The West African folktale character is a spider with human characteristics from the Akan culture of West Africa. The Akan ethnic group is the biggest ethnic group that umbrellas a number of sub groups in Ghana and parts of West Africa.
Aside from being the most popular and important West African folktale character, Kwaku Anansi has travelled across the world finding his home in areas including Jamaica and Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean; and America.
In the Akan setting, Kwaku Anansi is a character with a witty and cunning personality. He embodies wisdom and survival tactics. In the short stories told of Kwaku Anansi, we find that he is usually too smart for himself and ends up facing difficulties which he tries to get out of. He sometimes ends up in embarrassing situations at the end of the story.
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