Bru Nansi’s Revival: The Separation of the M’Animal Kingdom

By Dale Francis

Bru Nansi’s Revival is a treat! The plot mixes past and present class conflicts into satirical entertainment for all ages. Chunky human and animal role reversal imagery reveals the cancel culture spirit of unity that stops the old imperialism and jump-starts a new kinder kingdom. Within the backdrop of historical references and benchmarks, this cultural tale mixes church and state traditions to recreate a lifestyle drama set in a 1700s colonial neighborhood. In this community, the natives become multilingual to communicate with the conquistadores. So, the texts present a treasure trove of multilingual words that capture the ambience of the era. Bru Nansi’s Revival is retold in African and European languages that are relevant to the setting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Apr 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781489727503

Dale Francis

Dale Francis is a music, public affairs, and Christian writer. His nonfiction books include The Quelbe Method: Music fundamentals in quelbe ensembles, and The Quelbe Commentary 1672-2012, which documents the sociopolitical dynamics associated with the quelbe folk music art form. This historical fiction, Bru Nansi’s Revival: The Separation of the M’animal Kingdom reveals how a disheartened community is revived through the power of brotherhood. For more information, please see: http://www.royalpowermission.com/, http://www.dalefrancisbooks.com/, or email [e-mail] or [e-mail].

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Copyright © 2020 Dale Francis.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2749-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2750-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020902027

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 04/22/2020

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

I BRU NANSI’S REVIVAL: The Separation Of the M’animal Kingdom

II BRU NANSI SE HERLEWING: Die Skeiding Van die M’dier Koninkryk

III BRU NANSI er GENOPLIVNING: Den Adskillelse Af den MDyr Kongerige

IV BRU NANSI es REVIVAL: Die Trennung Der Die M ‘Tier Königreich

V BRU NANSI UAMSHO: Ya Kujitenga Ya ya M’mnyama Ufalme

References

Appendix

Wordlist Tables

Most Frequently Used Words

1800S Virgin Islands Dutch Creole

Theme Song

The Imperial Dance Contest (Melody and Lyrics)

The Imperial Dance Contest (Chords and Melody)

Is Faith A Factor In The Anansi Genre?

Dedication

FOREWORD

The Anansi Folk Tale Genre

The Anansi tales are entertaining and educational double entendre stories that explain life and its dynamic social interactions. Perhaps for anonymity, mythology, or artistry, Anansi stories cast animal kingdom characters to depict social dynamics in human kingdom interactions. Also, the use of animal characters may be because man and animal exhibit comparable behaviors.

In the Virgin Islands, the principle character Anansi, is known as Bru Nansi. Anansi story characters included Bru Lion, Bru Tukuma and others according to the author and region or activity.

According to Dr. Lezmore Emanuel, Bruu (Brother) Anansi of the Virgin Islands and Caribbean is characterized as a bald-headed spider with a high falsetto voice that walks with a limp. Anansi is a trickster hero who almost always outwits his adversaries, the stronger animals. To do so, his actions can be full of guile, brilliant, ruthless, and without remorse on one hand. On the other, he can be genial and charming. Occasionally, he is discomfited, because of overwhelming pride and insatiable appetite.

The Anansi stories are attributed to the Ashanti people of Ghana. In the Ganian language, Anansi means spider. The best known of his sons is Tukuma, Ntikuma of the Ashanti animal tales. The name translates as Twi, head and kumaa, youngest or smallest.¹ Tukuma seems to have been Anansi’s youngest offspring. Tukuma is a slow-witted greedy foil in contrast to Anansi. There are variations of the name Tukuma in other Caribbean countries.

Anansi other sons are Big Head, Big Belly, and Thin Foot or Tikonokono, Afudotwedotwe, and Nayankofwes respectively.² Afua means stomach. Repetition of words such as kono, and dotwe is an African language feature used to show magnitude, distance, or duration. This linguistic element was also passed along to the African Creoles in the Caribbean. Not surprisingly, themes from European literature are found in the Virgin Islands stories as well.

On the North American continent, the Anansi stories are represented in the Brer Rabbit tales. In Africa, places such as Nigeria, the Yoruba replace the spider with the tortoise. The Bantu replace the spider with the hare and in other areas the monkey is the lead character.³

One characteristic of the stories is that they explain how natural phenomenon, customs, physical characteristics, habits and behavioral patterns originated. One of the favorite devices is the underdog element in which a small weak character uses his intelligence to outmaneuver a more powerful character.

Human beings play leading roles as well. Even so, there would be underlying class conflict in the tales. The story of the Boar hog would be accompanied by the remark that a gentleman is a Boar hog!⁴ This would show underlying hostility to the upper-class who exploited the peasantry.

Anansi excites the imagination of black folk with the cleverness of his schemes in relation to the historical fact of their enslavement. To the oppressed, the contest between wits and brute force is an everyday occurrence. The ethos of equality which permeates these tales reflects the experience of bondage. Just as the oppressed could imagine outwitting the system, the enslaved would relish outwitting his master (represented by Bruu Lion or Bruu Elephant)⁵ as they had to do in order to survive.

Through the Anansi tales, the enslaved, regardless of humble endowment or condition, could triumph over their enemies. When these stories were told, each enslaved person could for a few moments taste victory and vicariously savor power by becoming Anansi in their imagination.

Therefore, Anansi still champions the right to be keeper of stories that represent a prominent African tradition in the Western world and that are currently relevant, important and invaluable to today’s marginalized groups of people.

In sum, the Virgin Islands Bru Nansi stories are regarded as human nature tales portrayed by animal characters to highlight a plotted moral. These stories have valuable social relevance in their ability to influence societal mores. In this regard, they are comparable to the Virgin Island folk songs. It is notable that both the folk song and folk tale genre utilizes double entendre elements in the prose and plot. At the end, the dénouement typically presents a plausible folkloric explanation to a natural occurrence.

Lezmore Emanuel published popular Virgin Islands Anansi stories in three collections that have been out of print. They are:

• Puppy Shungs last wedding

• The Bull and the Golden Calabash: and other Anansi Stories

• Broo Nansi; a selection of Anansi stories 1973-1974

The following story is influenced by the Bru Nansi folk tale traditions which the author experienced attending storytelling events hosted by Dr. Lezmore Emanuel at John Brewers Beach in the 1970s. His community and family storytelling gatherings were iconic of the storytelling tradition of the Virgin Islands African diaspora.

From a micro perspective, Bru Nansi’s Revival pays homage to the Anansi genre, the Virgin Islands storytelling tradition, and culture bearers. In the macro environment, the existential principles are 1) be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22), which highlights a key difference between Christian faith and colonial religion, and 2) brotherly love and fellowship, which are presented within a framework of spiritual enlightenment and cultural entertainment. These themes are platonic enrichment ideals that are valued by diverse global populations.

INTRODUCTION

To some traditionalists, Bru Nansi’s Revival: The Separation of the M’animal Kingdom may not qualify as an authentic Anansi folktale. There may be concern for change from traditional to contemporary concepts including a shift from oral to print media traditions, contexts, and power and influence. However, the purpose of the story is indifferent to whether the reader finds it to be traditional, contemporary, or not an Anansi story at all.

Nevertheless, Anansi characters and storytelling elements cultivate the mystique of the genre for this expose on colonial existence. Bru Nansi’s Revival uses an eclectic print media medium to reveal an Anansi plot that was destined to have a life of its own. Despite competing self-interests, destiny finds a way to raise the good will of brotherhood above the ill will of colonial deception in a small tri-island community.

In comparison, traditional Anansi stories are presented orally by storytellers that are skilled at adopting the stories to specific audiences. The stories are short by nature perhaps being comparable to songs of varying lengths, or musical suites with appropriate movement configurations. They are short enough to keep a young audience intrigued yet long enough to deliver the missives presented in the tales.

The book format enables this story to highlight Virgin Island fauna, flora, geography, geology, cultural traditions, history, and elements of the economic, political, and social environment. Therefore, references to Bible verses and songs are a vital link to the development of spiritual inconsistencies in colonial religion and state imperialism. In sum, readers will experience a historically and biblically significant story.

Ultimately, in Bru Nansi’s Revival, readers are immersed in a faith movement of brotherhood and music. This movement is reminiscent of the pre-Martin Luther Christian protestant movement inspired by Jan Hus. Here, the legacy of the Hus reform movement, which seems to be obscured in Levitical anonymity, finds new life on the Moravian Estate, which hosts the first African American Christian congregation in the new world.

Quintessential dynamics of African, European, and Taino relationships in the colonialized enclave are miraculously transformed by the unity of the brotherhood’s⁶ fellowship. This suggests that dedicated Moravian missionaries’ values and characteristics such as equality, humility, and work ethic prevail in this story.

I

BRU NANSI’S REVIVAL: THE SEPARATION

OF THE M’ANIMAL KINGDOM

By Dale Francis

ENGLISH

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BRU NANSI’S REVIVAL

Many years ago, man and animal lived as one community on small unspoiled virgin islands. There in the Lesser Antilles brushed by the equatorial trade winds, the residents enjoyed a tranquil existence. Their music was called quelbe to represent the tranquility. Quelbe is a contraction of the words quell and be, which means quelled being. So, quelbe is quell the spirit music, to the Lucayo⁷ natives.

Their man-animal brotherhood developed over centuries of learning the ways of the Arawakan Tainos⁸ that lived in the islands since 40 AD. Music and divinity embodied the Tainos peaceful existence and lifestyle. So, Araguaca, their word for music came from araguaco which means the sacred people. In tribute to their sacred Arawakan society the man-animal coexistence, was known as the M’animal Kingdom. M’animal is pronounced manimal.

This M’animal brotherhood existed until explorers and pirates found the Carib and Taino inhabited islands. By the late 1400s, the conquistadors colonized the islands into a paradise for the world’s secret orders of imperial monarchs, societies, and church and state. Under colonization the imperials tricked the locals into slave labor and practices of east Atlantic despotism, and feudalism.

Unlike the Tainos, the conquistadors’ words and actions were deceitful and contrary to their faith. Using legal force and trickery, the conquistadors exploited the natives into peasantry. So the native men could only afford to wear shirt, suspenders and dungaree. Straw hats were optional depending on the sun, but suits and shoes were worn for special occasions.

On some occasions, the conquistadors’ efforts to gain more profits and authoritarian control were counteracted by a weak looking petite balding man with a big smile, bright eyes, and spider powers. This native known as brother Anansi, Bru Nansi for short, was skilled at exploiting the weaknesses of anyone pursuing imperialistic ambitions. He counteracted monarchial plans with his own plots that made the imperialists experience the humiliation of their own domination.

Bru Nansi’s remedies for imperialism were cures that the brotherhood enjoyed observing. But while his trickery often shielded the brotherhood from imperial exploits, he almost never purely turned the bigoted actions around without producing side effects. Sometimes, his super human acts of heroism ended as moral dilemmas. So Bru Nansi became infamous for his trickery because too often he benefitted more than the community from his acts of charity.

Adding to his notoriety was his legendary ability to spin webs and climb tall trees from which he would look down on the villages and know what everyone was doing before everyone else. With his premonition of the conquistadors and residents’ actions, Bru Nansi spun schemes that caused webs of confusion in which the exploiters were exploited.

Although small in stature, Bru Nansi was fast and fearless. He could spin webs and swing through trees with disappearing speed. He had mind powers to set a trap before his victims could realize the plot. However, Bru Nansi’s most impressive power, was the ability to manipulate others with words and deeds. Some say he acquired these powers by observing daily activities from tall hillside flamboyant and savanna mahogany⁹ trees, and by reading during the many daylight hours he spent atop the bayside coconut palm towers. It was because of his knowledge, expertise and pleasure in climbing trees that Reign Dear solicited his help to find and pick guavaberries.¹⁰

Picking Fruit:

Dear met Bru Nansi under the big old tarmun tree¹¹ at the foot of Raphune Hill. Dear and Bru Nansi trecked up through Raphune road shady trees and maintained their diet by tasting all the accessible guinep bunches with filipino fruit.¹² Dear wore her boomerang crown that depicts seven berries, one for each community she represents as bamboula queen. With this crown, Dear could travel across estates without having to pay road tax. Her accompanying entourage also travels free. With no time to waste Dear and Bru Nansi incorporated their greeting into their walk toward the hillside.

It was a hot sunny day just after the summer rains that Reign Dear chose to wander through the hill sides looking for guavaberries for the Christmas season feasts tarts and beverages. Reign Dear carefully hopped, skipped, and jumped over the low catch and keep,¹³ man-better-man,¹⁴ and parted kasha¹⁵ and Christmas bush¹⁶ thorns sometimes carrying Bru Nansi on her back.

Bru does not thrive down low on the ground burrowing through the thorns of the earth like a black tarantula. To nimble through the