ANANSI, THE JUDGE, AND THE CULTURAL GAP

A short story by Arthur Mahrer (of Akan heritage)

In a dystopian world, in a galaxy not so far away, Nana Yaw Anansi was a young seeker of Wisdom from the Akan tribes. He had traveled great distances in his enlightened pursuits, and he wound up in the American Federated States colloquially known as the New World. Since the Federated States were a federation of partitioned states each with its own culture, Anansi’s interaction with the broader American culture ensued within the microcosm of the Ghostlands’ State, right at the center of the federation’s continent. He had learned to adapt in such a manner that his Akan palate had grown accustomed to the local spiceless foods. He even survived the absence of Jollof rice, a delicacy native to his youthful days of plenty. In the present, however, homesickness was a distraction and the goal was clear. Anansi sought to develop his intellectual faculties in the New World (as her tertiary institutions were so renowned they were dubbed the Frontiers of Wisdom). Nonetheless, his broader aspirations were not as conspicuous as the prestige these institutions of higher learning offered. He secretly aimed to return to his homeland and become the paramount chief of the Akans. Only a higher education could grant him his bid for the highly contested throne. The New World would grant him the powers to outsmart his opponents back home. Anansi was thus enrolled in the Jameson College of Heavenly and Structural Studies, so prestigious it was once known as the Little Harvard of the Ghostlands’ State. The Ghostlands State (or the Ghostlands), were a peculiar gem of the New World. The machinery of American industrialization had driven the Kanaza, a tribe native to the Ghostlands, towards oblivion. Anansi had reasoned that progress was the inevitable fate of all indigenous tribes; one could either adapt or die. Nonetheless, the cries of those Kanaza slain by the current of progress centuries ago still sometimes resonated in the wind in a kind of ghostlike shriek that haunted the persons who ignored the feeble structure progress was built on. Nevertheless, these anthropological concerns were mere distractions and would not detract our dear Anansi from gaining a prestigious American education. Anansi so excelled at the College of Heavenly and Structural Studies that he was pegged for graduating with honors. That is, only if he succeeded in passing the final challenge. This entailed an interview with an Academic Judge, one who measured whether an individual was intellectually and culturally desirable to fit within the heavenly structures of American society. Anansi's interview proceeded as follows:

Judge: “State your name and class (social station) for the record.”

Anansi: “Nana Yaw Anansi; I beg your pardon, what do you mean by class?”

Judge: “Interestingly long name, are you some kind of blueblood?”

Anansi: “No I am not. But I have political goals.”  

Judge: “What kind?”

Anansi: “I hope that my education will help me ascend to the Chieftaincy of my tribe, the Akan.”  

Judge: “I see that your concerns are merely tribal and not progressive.” 

Anansi: “Yet all I seek is to bridge my native world with the advances your world can offer mine; is cultural exchange a crime?”  

Judge: “How do you fit in our great American structure?” 

Anansi: “I am an outsider seeking wisdom from your eminence.”

Judge: “I do not like outsiders, you are either in or out, thus is the will of any heavenly structure.” 

Anansi: “No problem, if that is how you reason yourself to sleep.”

Judge: “So why did you choose to gain an education at the prestigious Jameson College of Heavenly and Structural Studies?” 

Anansi: “I’m afraid that I am short of an answer.” 

Judge: “You must answer. Why did you come here to the Ghostlands?” 

Anansi: “Does not the word ‘Heavenly’ in the name of your precious institution imply that this is the House of God?”

Judge: “How so?”

Anansi: “A house where intellect is cultivated in the image of greatness, of God?”

Judge: “Yes.”

Anansi: “Aside from his abundant intellect is not your God, a merciful, abundantly loving God?” 

Judge: “He doesn’t like sinners and deviants to the great American social structure.” 

Anansi: “Well, I have come to the house of God to claim my share of his abundant love through education that I will share to my people as the paramount Chief of the Akan.”

Judge: “Blasphemy! You are a cultural thief. You seek to spy on our great nation so that you may contest her greatness.”

Anansi: “Maybe the Kanaza should ask you why you turned them into ghosts. Why do they still shriek in the wind?”

Judge: “Oh, shall they ever stop.”

Anansi: “Maybe, the structures you so worship are not as solid as you thought.”

Judge: “The great American structure will last eternally; what are a few windy cries in the face of our great civilization? The might of progress cannot be halted. Mr. Anansi! Are you not a hypocrite! Tell me with all your Akan honesty that you are not seeking an American degree! The gall you have to lecture me. With my thirty years of wisdom in the great heavenly structures!”

Anansi: “Yes, I seek your wisdom. Yes, I am an outsider, but I see that your vanity hurts you more than the people who have already been hurt by your heavenly structure. You are a man, and soon you will be a robot.” 

Judge: “The ‘robot,’ as you so chose to label me, is the lifeblood of the structure. It is people like me who guide humanity toward godly wisdom.” 

Anansi: “If this institution claims to mirror anything close to godly wisdom, then just as I love the wisdom you have imparted me with, you should love the cultural exchange I seek. Since love is at the center of anything godly.” 

Judge: “You are playful with your words. Mind you, that structure is the root of anything worthwhile in this brutal world. Godly wisdom is what has been given to those, like me, who are willing to die for the proper functioning of society. Civilization is Structure. Without which we revert back to the limitations of your tribal factions.” 

 Anansi: “If Structure is so great, then you should be able to adapt to the change I bring, just as I adapted to this new life in the Ghostlands.” 

Judge: “The Structure works so that it cannot be stolen, by you and your petty tribal aspirations. Despite your tenacity, I must inform you that you have categorically failed your interview.”

Anansi: “And so now, in my failure, I have thus gained the enlightenment I sought.” 

Judge: “Go back to your tribe, and stand before them empty handed.” 

Anansi:  “And I go forth, imparting you with these words: So long as you are not devoted to the task of an intentional cultural exchange with the peoples of this world, and those who stand oppressed within the limits of your ‘great structures,’ never will you or your Civilization be able to thrive.”