Culture

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Dynamism of Culture

I am one person that values culture and its dynamism. To me, culture is a tool of survival therefore it can’t be stagnant. Today, I read with enjoyment the words of Christi in articulating what I believe but could never say (words sometime don’t come easily with me). These are the words by Christi Van Der Westhuizein as quoted from this blog posting about polygamy:

Even without the earth-shattering effects of colonialism on [black African] “culture”, it would be absurd to suggest that such a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon such as “culture” can be a fixed set of rules that is transferred from generation to generation without alteration.

While I believe in every word quoted above, I did qualify culture by amending ‘black African’. I did that to provide context but also to emphasise the importance of which culture we are talking about. Every community has a culture that binds it together irrespective of race. Lately, however, I realise that the word is used to refer to ‘black culture’ but without explicitly saying so. I think that is truly sad for it shows how as a society we are far from having a united culture. A culture that will put to the fore our believe system as a society – black, white, yellow or brown. For a rainbow nation, that would be a culture of love, hope and all ideals embodies in the constitution!

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Culture or Immorality?

I know eavesdropping is not necessarily moral but I do it often when I dine alone (which is a lot in G-town). This week I listened with great interest and enthusiasm to what people had to say about polygamy. And it is not because I believe in the practice, for I DON’T! I just believe in the concept of culture.

First, let me state that I appreciate that understanding anyone’s culture is not an easy task. So my intention is not to be or sound virtuous. My intention is to merely pose a few questions that may hopefully help to differentiate culture from wrong-doing or even immorality.

From what I heard, it sounded to me like people had accepted Mr President’s statement that polygamy is a cultural practice. Indeed this is true, but only if accepted and understood in context.

For example, in Lesotho not every man can practice polygamy because not all men have a sizeable herd of cattle. Of course, I am not being literal here! My point is, not every man can have more than one wife unless the man can provide for the wives (without assistance from anyone 😉 ). That is, the man has to be on the wealthy side.

[It is important to note that the “clause” attached to wealth or affordance only applies when a man wants to practice polygamy. For monogamy, “monyala ka peli o nyala oa hae” . Roughly translated, this means with two cows one can marry. Therefore, even the poorest of the poor can marry since with love and honour one can build a family*.]

Ok, back on track…affordability is just one dimension. The other important dimension pertains to whether or not the wife or wives approve; for without approval the family will never be united. The question then to ask is: what does approval entail? Does the man go out to hunt or he merely expresses his desire to increase his ‘spread’ ? If he goes to hunt, is it before or after seeking approval?

To me, the answers to these questions define what is culturally acceptable and what is immoral. If approval is sought after a man has planted his seed that becomes rubber stamping and therefore that cannot be taken as part of traditional culture or any culture based on respect. And indeed, in such scenarios, as far as Sesotho culture is concerned, a man wouldn’t seek approval but would seek to make necessary amendments; precisely because he acknowledges his wrong-doing or immorality. When this acknowledgement is made, then we happily move forward since to forgive is divine!

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* Its interpretations such as this one that make me appreciate the depth of Sesotho language! As a by the way, the statement is a classic example of use of what is known as “mokhabo-puo-lepata”! Translated, this means language embellished with hidden meaning!

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Value of history & culture

Since starting this blog nearly two weeks ago, I have been thinking a lot about what I know about Lesotho and its history. In the process I have come to realise how much I have been drawn to this topic. I also realised how interesting some of my sources were. As an example, I had very interesting conversations with a gentleman called Kalusi Ramakhula. He is very passionate to say the least and very knowledgeable when it comes to Lesotho history. In the inspiration page, I have included in a succinct form his written piece on ‘value of history and culture’. It is, in my opinion a beautiful piece (although I had forgotten about it) that suggests that by looking into our past while making sure that the future takes precedence, success can be assured!

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Invocations from Indigenous Music Performance

Yesterday, I went to see Umrhube (indigenous music) performance featured in the Grahamstown’ annual arts festival. The performance was great! However, the patriot in me thinks Basotho are better. This of course is debatable but is absolutely besides the point.

The point I wish to make is that the perfomance invoked thoughts of what ‘indigenous’ means and how much of what can be regarded as indigenous information an/or knowledge is documented. I am not really sure of the answer but since I appreciate that most of this information is passed on from one generation to the next orally, I thought it would be worthwhile to challenge myself by embarking on a journey that takes me to the roots of my origins. I will begin this journey by using Umrhube’ performance. The group dressed in colourful attire and each member dressed according to their own individual style and taste. The women in particular although danced standing reminded me of the Batlokoa women.

Batlokoa women like women from other clans (in Lesotho) dance on their knees. The only difference is that they don’t just move their upper body, they literally lift their knees much like men lift their legs. You can just imagine the effort; especially in making all believe that the elagance and beauty of the dance comes without effort! To those who understand the Batlokoa this is not surprising since defiance is one quality that can be associated with the clan. Thus, the dance itself can be viewed as an act of defiance, with women saying: ‘if you think as women we need to kneel then we shall! But we will do exactly what men do!’

Other than the dancing, the performance made me think of the role of music in general to culture. To me, it seems that we sing through it all. We sing when we are happy, sad, uncertain, bored, etc. So indeed music might be the food of the soul and through music we might just return to our roots.