cultural expectations and the new african reality

trends-and-insights-africa by: TIA Editorial

The foundations of African culture are based on three aspects; the individual, the family unit, and finally the community. Through these three aspects, culture is defined and propagated from one generation to another.

Culture is conceptualized and cultivated through oral literature, rites, beliefs, arts, sciences, morals, laws, and customary activities. Language, in most cases, is usually the glue that holds all these aspects together, and these form the social fabric through which uniqueness and identity are formulated within these ethnic groups.

In that regard, greeting habits, dressing, social norms and taboos, food and its preparation, songs and dance, rites of passage, philosophical beliefs, as well as religious beliefs, vary from one ethnic group to another. Ultimately culture drives social cohesion and societal development.

The fundamental question is whether culture ought to be preserved in its current form or it needs to be re-evaluated so that it is compatible with the times we live in.

Considering culture plays a pivotal role in the development of an individual within a community setting, it must be placed under the lens of unbiased inspection to maintain the excellent parts and do away with the unnecessary.

By doing that, the identity of an individual through culture can be better cultivated and the social awkwardness in interaction with other distinct cultures is quashed.

In the twenty-first century, cultural norms and influence have changed considerably. It does not necessarily mean that culture has been thrust on the back burner but rather parts of it have taken the centrepiece, hence becoming the main indicators of what a culture is.

These include music, greetings, marriage rites, and methods of food preparation. And in some cases, compromise has been reached for the sake of moving ethnic groups forward. For instance, in some ethnic groups, it was forbidden to marry outside the tribe but now intermarriages are prevalent in these groups.

In addition, in some communities, it was mandatory to pay the bride price or dowry to the bridegroom's family before taking her hand in marriage. Yet nowadays through compromise, it has become possible to bring two families together in marriage without paying a bride price or dowry.

Regardless, the question remains whether culture has a place within the current society or it ought to be scrapped, forgotten as a thing of the past, and a detriment to progress.

Indeed, some societies have norms that currently are a predicament to the members of the society. For example, the expectations normally thrust on mainly adult members may be a heavy burden to carry considering the world has changed drastically and multitudes of people are chasing the same meagre resources.

Our forefathers might have had swatches of land that they passed on to their children but because of population explosion and rapid urbanization, it may no longer be possible to pass on assets to the younger generation.

Aside from that, society was closely knitted upon the family to a point whereby on close relations losing parents, the aunties and uncles would rise to the occasion and take responsibility. They included taking on the role of parents which meant raising orphans but due to economic hardships, such has become a difficult endeavour.

Of late, what is more important is to revisit family cohesion as a means of streamlining culture and, in a way, working out mechanisms through which family can be upheld even when faced with extraordinary challenges.

In general, culture itself may not be a bad thing since it provides mechanisms through which an individual can derive identity and provides practices that promote cohesion and well-being, as well as a foundation upon which community leadership can be based within society.

The challenge, however, is when these cultural norms or practices stand in the way of progress, peace, and harmony. This means culture needs to be placed under the knife and redesigned so that the dead parts, which are hindrances to progress and society's cohesion, are eliminated. They then ought to be replaced with ideas and practices that can move the community forward.

Ultimately, culture is not set in stone, and any norms and practices that impede the advancement of society as a whole can be left by the wayside.

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