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Breadfruit · (#53 (**permalink**))

POST OF THE DAY

Originally posted by Toloane

let me answer your second question first. that definition DOES talk about culture, and it is correct, as I will explain. let me take this step by step, using that part of culture known as tradition.

tradition is handed down from generation to generation, right? the dictionary definition of tradition is: 1. the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, esp. by word of mouth or by practice.

study of human (re)evolution, history, sociology and a bit of common sense later and we can expand on this definition by stating, quite correctly, that what this amounts to in the long run is accumulated wisdom. think about it: a human group is like a continuous growth. the only way we can live on is through procreation. we have no option but to teach our children what we know about life because they enter the world with empty heads, unlike animals that come hardwired with much of their parent's experiences and knowhow. traditions passed from ancestor to present are bound to be about things they went through that they need to teach their young for them to fare well in life. obviously, these teachings get some polishing along the way. they become better. in fact, they grow with the group, just like the knowledge and experience of an individual, in his personal life, is bound to grow and widen with time.

all of us are coming in from the cold, and unless there is an accident that causes brain damage, we are supposed to get better at solving problems and thinking as we grow older. up until the time when we start to degenerate with age, we get wiser. if tradition is to the entire group's growth what the acquisition of knowledge is to the individual, then it is in fact nothing more than wisdom accumulated over time.

this is a fact that you will have to arrive at if you study such things and meditate on them.

OK. speaking of logic...

if tradition is accumulated wisdom, then we can further expand it to be those things passed down from generation to generation that are bound to illuminate life under any circumstances that may arise, right? meaning such like medical knowledge, dealing with nature, how to survive under given circumstances, how to tell danger, friend from foe, etc. we can then conclude that tradition deals primarily with coping strategies... with survival. somebody who has already been there giving you their shoulder to stand on, rather than you having to start all over again, and you doing the same for those to come, and so on.

if tradition is nothing more than a group's accumulated wisdom, what happens to a group of people when you remove or stultify their culture? loss of wisdom equates to becoming a fool.

the colonizers were not fools, my friend. they dealt on this issue thoroughly, and the result today is that we Africans find it hard to see what really happened as no stones were left unturned... well, quite, otherwise i, and many other Africans, would not be talking like this doing the math.

i have dealt with the continental African side of this issue in my past replies, but to make this very clear i have to jump to the Diaspora, where this destruction of culture process is much more clear. Africans there had their culture completely destroyed to the point they were removed of their names. why do you think this was done? the enslaver/colonizer didn't do this for the sake of it. he knew that with their culture intact, any group of humans are hard to enslave. revolt and revolution is just waiting around the corner. when they are removed of their culture they become helpless, confused. what's worse is they lose crucial knowledge of self that makes them not know which side they are supposed to be on, to survive. in fact, making them know what they need to be doing to fare better becomes a matter of lecture, something their own culture automatically gets out of the way. that way, uncle toms can be created with ease who step in as overseers of the others on the fields, freeing the enslaver's hands to do other things...

in conclusion, culture in a world where antagonist foes exist can be thought of as a force field protecting you from hostile fire. breach that level of defence and there is little to protect you from harm. it is even worse when you are left believing you still have a working forcefield protecting you.

to answer your first question: compared to any forms of known animal communication, "the most important feature characterizing human language is its infinite productivity and creativity. human beings are virtually unrestricted in what they can talk about. no area of experience is accepted as necessarily incommunicable, though it may be necessary to adapt one's language in order to cope with new discoveries or modes of thought". language interacts with every other aspect of human life in society. deprive a people of a language congenial to their culture, and you effectively sever not only their tongue, but the best vehicle they have of perpetuating their culture.

try replacing that function of language with a foreign tongue and you soon discover the best you will get is interpretation. you will eventually realize you have to adopt that other culture's entire culture in order to become whole again. the fact you cannot keep your culture if you have to rely on a foreign language becomes apparent, eventually.

here's a passage from an article i read some time ago that points out some other problems connected to this:

Lack of cultural feedback has a detrimental effect on African students studying English, because it does not equip them with cognitive thinking, creativity and open-mindedness, but fashions them as mere carriers of the language they don't fully understand. The point I am trying to make is that these students can never boast of being experts of English without the knowledge of the culture, traditions and customs of native speakers of English.

the fact Africans accepted to use foreign languages on the tuition and official level has accelerated the loss of their own culture. this speaks for itself...

http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/village-s...ltureless.html

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