Are cultures being eroded in SA?

S

Skinner

Expert Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2007
Messages
1,680
Reaction score
4
Location
Hamburg
Let's open this topic and hear some examples and experiences of cultures (whatever they may be) being eroded in the new SA.

Myself personally I have not experienced this since 1994; I can still do all that I could since then, without any problems. Whether it is fishing and braaing at Gansbaai or sakkie-sakkie at my local dansbaan, everything is still the same and I enjoy it as much as ever.

So let's hear it: name some examples and experiences of your culture being eroded, or you restricted from practising your culture since 1994.
 
Skinner said:
Let's open this topic and hear some examples and experiences of cultures (whatever they may be) being eroded in the new SA.

Myself personally I have not experienced this since 1994; I can still do all that I could since then, without any problems. Whether it is fishing and braaing at Gansbaai or sakkie-sakkie at my local dansbaan, everything is still the same and I enjoy it as much as ever.

So let's hear it: name some examples and experiences of your culture being eroded, or you restricted from practising your culture since 1994.
Click to expand...

Yes, my history and culture are being eroded.
 
Yes, they are very much being eroded. Not by anyone's design though.

Things are no longer done the same way they used to be done. And IMO, its becuase the elders that do know how things are supposed to done are either long gone or are very elderly, and people just did not really pay attention when they were around, so such traditions are lost to us.
 
May be modern history and interracial marriages will change your culture.
What will happen to children with an Afrikaneer daddy and a Sotho mother ? They will learn both cultures and create their own.

That's why world is changing.... culture is always changing
 
I'm putting on my flame suit...here goes:


Question that should be asked is: "What is considered to be culture?"

I doubt anyone would be able to give an example of an attack on their culture unless it involved the rape of virgins or an inherent belief in the superiority of one's race.

SA government has in the most parts been pretty hands off on issues of culture...The Freedom Front Plus might disagree on things like place/street names (which I consider to be trivial) and the alleged "assault" on Afrikaans at universities and schools.
 
sox63 said:
Yes, they are very much being eroded. Not by anyone's design though. And IMO, its becuase the elders that do know how things are supposed to done are either long gone or are very elderly, and people just did not really pay attention when they were around, so such traditions are lost to us.
Click to expand...

True. As much as things like the Xhosa initiation ritual, ilobola, etc have been conserved as part of modern culture, its not as strong as before. There has been an increasing gap between the elder generation that do know how things are supposed to be done and us.
 
dlk001 said:
True. As much as things like the Xhosa initiation ritual, ilobola, etc have been conserved as part of modern culture, its not as strong as before. There has been an increasing gap between the elder generation that do know how things are supposed to be done and us.
Click to expand...

But are all these initiations still relevant in a modern society?

I'm not saying it is wrong, or that people shouldn't do it, but simply that if somebody doesn't do it, he should not be discriminated against for that decision.
 
Nod said:
But are all these initiations still relevant in a modern society?

I'm not saying it is wrong, or that people shouldn't do it, but simply that if somebody doesn't do it, he should not be discriminated against for that decision.
Click to expand...

IMO, they are still relevant. I feel it grounds a person as who you are and background from which you come.

In the end it is a personal choice, and I have yet to experiance discrimination if I have refused to do something on whatever grounds. Yeah, sure they will be people that are unhappy, but not hold it against you. In my family anyway.
 
sox63 said:
IMO, they are still relevant. I feel it grounds a person as who you are and background from which you come.
Click to expand...
Makes sense.
In the end it is a personal choice, and I have yet to experiance discrimination if I have refused to do something on whatever grounds. Yeah, sure they will be people that are unhappy, but not hold it against you. In my family anyway.
Click to expand...
Jip. Somebody will always be unhappy about something in families. Try not to invite absolutely "everybody" to your wedding :p
I suppose it will depend on how close the family is to the culture, and how they use it in their daily lives.
 
sox63 said:
IMO, they are still relevant. I feel it grounds a person as who you are and background from which you come.
Click to expand...

Fikile Mbalula being a case in point. I don't know too many Xhosa "men" who openly boast about not having undergone the snip. Its a very sensitive issue, that is one of the few cultural vestiges with which Xhosa's can connect with previous generations of men.
 
Skinner said:
Let's open this topic and hear some examples and experiences of cultures (whatever they may be) being eroded in the new SA.

Myself personally I have not experienced this since 1994; I can still do all that I could since then, without any problems. Whether it is fishing and braaing at Gansbaai or sakkie-sakkie at my local dansbaan, everything is still the same and I enjoy it as much as ever.

So let's hear it: name some examples and experiences of your culture being eroded, or you restricted from practising your culture since 1994.
Click to expand...

Yes but will your children know how to sakkie sakkie?

I feel that I still have the right and power to live out my cultural activities, but I doubt if the next generation of people in SA will be as culturally individuel as us/the previous generation :)

Its not always a bad thing :) I love indian food and I love african style :p
 
brixton tower said:
Fikile Mbalula being a case in point. I don't know too many Xhosa "men" who openly boast about not having undergone the snip. Its a very sensitive issue, that is one of the few cultural vestiges with which Xhosa's can connect with previous generations of men.
Click to expand...

I feel sorry for him, as he grew up in a mostly Sotho dominated community, so is a bit far removed from the Xhosa community, where he would have done way before now.
 
Skinner said:
Myself personally I have not experienced this since 1994; I can still do all that I could since then, without any problems. Whether it is fishing and braaing at Gansbaai or sakkie-sakkie at my local dansbaan, everything is still the same and I enjoy it as much as ever.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise you could go fishing in Gansbaai from Europe nor that there are sakkie-sakkie dansbane in Copenhagen.
 
Myself personally I have not experienced this since 1994
Click to expand...
Could this be explained by the fact that you've been out of SA for who knows how long?

How to live successfully in Copenhagen
 
Culture isn't a finite thing. It changes evolves with time.
It will change, we will learn new ways of doing things.
Besides, somethings should change. Lobola... um ja that doesn't really sit well with me.
So because its a woman the man has to pay for his wife. Why not pay a little extra an get that lounge suite you've been eyeing out for the last couple of days.
And cutting off a bit of your penis, in a hut in the middle of nowhere, with some rusted blade. So that you can become a man... Na jones. Ja thats some rich culture there.
These things are not important in everyday life. They don't assist every day living, so we we will see things like this disappearing from life some day. To be replaced by other things. It could be anything. who knows, maybe the next cultural belief is to insert a large metal rod into the nose and have a widower whip you with a week old dead chicken. So that you can become a man, it makes about as much sense.
 
Hmm... I must say, I haven't noticed any of my culture being eroded...

I still braai, watch rugby and cricket, dance sakie-sakie on weddings and watch silly Afrikaans movies. Also, my brother is a part of the Voortrekkers.

Nope... can't say that much has changed...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X