Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information and opinions about the origin and meaning of the "Jack Mandora Me Nuh Choose None" ending statement for Anansi stories in Jamaica.The content of this post is presented for folkloric. cultural, and educational purposes.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/01/anansi-and-birds-folktale-with.html for a closely related pancocojams post for more information about Anansi as well as two renditions of the folklore "Anansi And The Birds".
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "JACK MANDORA" ENDING STATEMENT FOR ANANSI STORIES IN JAMAICA
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From https://www.facebook.com/JISVoice/videos/did-you-know-that-jack-mandora-me-nuh-choose-none-means-no-blame-should-be-attri/10156399145336457/ Jamaica Information Service, April 24, 2018 ·
"Did you know that “Jack Mandora me nuh choose none” means no blame should be attributed to listener, storyteller or writer of an Anancy story? Learn more about this and other interesting Anancy story facts in this video.
If you like Anancy stories comment and tell us “Jack Mandora
me nuh choose none.” "
Excerpt #2
From http://zephyrbaby.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-is-jack-mandora.html
"Who is Jack Mandora?
Jack Mandora me no choose none. If you have ever heard an
Anancy story, as many Jamaican children have had for so many years, this is the
statement made to signal the end of the story. But who is Jack Mandora and why
is it necessary to constantly inform him of choices in such simple things as a
story? So much of who we are collectively as a people tends to be ignored
because it is already so ubiquitous in our psyche. It is easy for us to forget
when we live in an age of instant gratification and microwave knowledge, that
stories were never just stories. Forgive me for I have strayed a little but I
promise you I will deal with that topic in another piece.
There are many tales as to who this Jack Mandora is. In many African tribes, stories were told and to a great extent still are told as an object. Words do not escape the lips for the mere enjoyment of the sound of one’s voice. Instead they acted as parables that manifested in a cunningly constructed story directed at an individual that needed to learn something or be warned, et cetera. For the village the innuendo would be exceedingly hard to miss. Jack Mandora in this case could be interpreted as the individual and his/her combolo (friends). Now in the event, a story was told for the fun of it, as a mere diversion of thought, it was thought only good manners to say “This story is not aimed at you or anyone else, nor am I wishing the same fate on you.” Hence Jack Mandora me no choose none.
In many West African tribes Anancy was more than just a lazy
ginnal (trickster) with a funny sounding lisp. In fact among such tribes as the
Ashanti, the Akan and other persons who spoke the Twi language, Anancy was the
god of knowledge, and for some tribes Jack Mandora the keeper of heaven’s gate.
In essence, the early Samuel L. Jackson version of St. Peter. Part of the
process of gaining entrance to a pleasant hereafter was to tell an Anancy story
to prove that one had a wise existence in the time spent on earth. Souls who
could not would be turned away and forced to watch reality T.V. for eternity.
Now Anancy has been cunning long before Nicolò Machiavelli ever thought of writing the Prince. Sometimes in Anancy stories he would do very ‘Wicked things’ the statement then acted as a disclaimer of sorts. It did two things:
It absconded the storyteller from any blame, that is any
trick performed by the cunning spider which was immoral this made it clear it
was not the same position of the storyteller.
Should parts of the story be exaggerated then the
storyteller could never be viewed as a liar so when his day came to stand
before Jack Mandora, such stories told would not be part of the judgement.
An alternate position on this issue is provided by linguist
Frederic G. Cassidy who believes the story of Jack Mandora is nothing as exotic
as an African Gilly Priest, "The Original Gateman" (gatekeeper). In
fact he believed it to be nothing more than a bastardized English Nursery rhyme
which went something like this:
‘Jackanory
I’ll tell you a story
And this is how it’s began
I’ll tell you another
Of Jack and his brother and now my story’s done.’
Personally I prefer the idea of the gatekeeper. And while
the version put forward by Mr. Cassidy seem plausible in my mind its just
doesn’t add up to what we know from those of us who actually paid attention in
West African History classes. To me Cassidy’s version feels much like clinging
to colonialism and the idea that nothing of value could come about without the
direct or indirect influence of Colonial masters. Anancy acted as a symbol of
hope for oppressed people that the small and crafty could out manoeuvre the
great and powerful. Why then would they knowingly associate in the end to those
who were the oppressors? To me that just don’t add up, but so mi get it, so mi
sell it, mi nuh add nor subtract it."
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Pancocojams Editor's Note:
I disagree with that writer and believe that the name "Jack Mandora" is a purposeful or accidental folk processed form of "Jackanory". The Jamaican "Jack Mandora" statement has a different meaning than the "Jackanory" statement, but those names and the use of those statements to end stories are clearly similar. Here's a quote from an online page about "Jackanory" https://allnurseryrhymes.com/jack-a-nory/
"Jack A Nory
Traditional nursery rhymes
The thyme was first recorded around 1760 in “The Top Book of
All For Little Masters and Misses” collection.
Those of us with children will know how persistent they can be when they want something! This rhyme is sometimes used to discourage the demand for a story.
Many UK residents of a certain age will remember this as
being a popular children’s show from the 60’s continuing until 1996, when
celebrities of the day would read stories in a twenty minute program timed to
start just after most children arrived home from school."
-snip-
In that article 'traditional nursery rhymes" means rhymes that are traditional in the United Kingdom.
-snip-
Click https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35410/35410-h/35410-h.htm for a digital copy of "Jamaican Song and Story: Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes, and dancing tunes" by Walter Jekyll. Part I of that 1904* book is labeled "Annancy Stories". All of those stories end with the saying "Jack Mantora me no choose none."
The release date for the Gutenberg digital copy of that book is February 26, 2011 [EBook #35410]. The original book has the dates 1904, 1906 and 1907. I'm not aware of any earlier documentation of the use of the statement "Jack Mantora" or "Jack Mandora") me no choose none".
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Excerpt #3
From https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/17/books/l-me-nuh-chose-none-117687.html letter to the editor from Daryl Cumber Dance, Santa Barbara, Calif
"To the Editor:
I wish to respond to Noel J. MacCarry's inquiry in his letter (April 19) about the traditional closing line of Jamaican folktales, ''Jack Mandora me no chose one'' (a query motivated by Beverly Lyon Clark's Jan. 25 review of Jane Yolen's ''Favorite Folktales From Around the World'').
The addressee has been variously interpreted as ''Jack, man of the door,'' ''Jack, heaven's doorkeeper'' and ''Jack, Dora's man.'' ''Me nuh chose none'' means that ''I did not choose this story''; that is, do not hold me responsible or accountable for it. The meaning of this line is discussed in Louise Bennett's ''Anancy and Miss Lou,'' Leonard E. Barrett's book ''The Sun and the Drum: African Roots in the Jamaican Folk Tradition'' and my ''Folklore From Contemporary Jamaicans.''.
A version of this article appears in print on May 17, 1987,
Section 7, Page 55 of the National edition with the headline: 'Me Nuh Chose
None'."
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Excerpt #4
From https://www.real-jamaica-vacations.com/anansi-stories.html
Jamaican Folk Tales
Anansi Stories
"Anansi Stories originated in West Africa. They were brought
to Jamaica and other parts of the New World by Ashanti slaves, and were handed
down orally through generations. Anansi exists as a spider, a man, or a
combination of the two. His name is sometimes spelt Anancy, and his stories
called Anancy stories.
Anansi is no goody-two-shoes hero. He is a greedy, lazy, inventive trickster, cunning and smart in the extreme. Anansi loves a joke, and when he's not sleeping, is always up to something.
[This post continues with a rendition of the folktale "Anansi and the snake.]
This is one of the best known Anansi stories, showing up
Anansi's tricky, clever side. Compared to others, it shows Anansi in quite a
positive light, as the underdog using his brains to triumph in a hopeless
situation. Other Anansi stories show up his lazy, greedy side as well, and some
tell us of Anansi being too smart for his own good!
Anansi was an important character to generations of slaves, as he demonstrated the ability of the weak and the downtrodden to use brains, wit and cunning to triumph over the oppressor.
The phrase "Jack Mandora, mi nuh choose none" is
usually said at the end of Anansi stories and other Jamaican folk tales. It is
believed to be a disclaimer, in which the storyteller is informing heaven's
gatekeeper (Jack Mandora) that the story is merely being passed on as it was
heard, with nothing added to or omitted from it. This is a safeguard, as some
of Anansi's activities do not take the moral highground, so to speak, and the
storyteller does not want to seem to be in agreement with them!”
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