Telling
the Anansesεm, Encoding Meanings
and Symbols:
MYTH
AND MYTHOGRAPHY AT PLAY IN
THE MARRIAGE OF ANANSEWA
BY
EFUA T. SUTHERLAND
PRESENTED
BY
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                                              ABSTRACT
 The study of myth has generated critical
attentions as scholars have attempted to discern encoded meanings behind the
different codes designed to pass on messages, secular or spiritual, across
generations. This paper, through the examination of The Marriage of Anansewa
by Efua T. Sutherland, seeks to situate mythic tendencies and reveal
mythographic meanings in the lives of Africans. Findings show that encoded in
the work are the beliefs accrued from past experiences of the Ghanaian (Akan)
people to be used in all facets of their lives: not only for the present but
also for the future. The symbols and encrypted messages, which are decoded with
the use of the archetypal model, are found
and shown to have, and still
impact, on the lives of Africans in general, and Ghanaians (Akans) in
particular.
