The Strong Breed Analysis

Thesis: one’s personal culture and sense of tradition will always be a strong part of the self, regardless of external factors which can have a profound influence on one’s life.

“African societies developed diverse forms, from large centralized states to stateless societies organized around kinship or age sets rather than central authority. Within this diversity were many shared aspects of language and beliefs. Universalistic faiths penetrated the continent and served as the basis for important cultural development in Nubia and Ethiopia.

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

It is clear that cultural tradition delivers set foundations into a person’s lifetime, giving identity and sense of belonging to a person and their social group. It allows individuals to feel part of something and understand their ancestral values and customs. Several people believe that it is very important to preserve cultural traditions because they feel as if tradition is the main enabler to a shared identity and to a construction of social consistency and unity. People also believe that conservancy of cultural traditions forms exclusive bonds within members of the community, holding people with the same background together to pass on cultural values, and excluding those who aren’t part of the culture. They think that the actual preservation of traditions means not to change the customs and traditions, to not grow from our culture, for example not learning another language because you already know your mother tongue. It is a way to group up and tag everyone in a form of an alliance, and to have better organization and awareness of where everyone comes from.

In 1949, many African nations began their surge for independence, and the native people did not accept the social modifications forced upon them. The revelation of the setting comes through the name “Ndume Central School” which is a school located within the African nation of Nigeria (595). Later, the setting reveals the deep divisions that take place in Africa at the time and allows the reader to understand why the villagers resists change. The separation between the school and village symbolizes the division, and this separation captures a modern school fighting a traditional village. Obi enforces the separation with the moving of the path and states that this new path should “[skirt] our premises” (597). The setting enhances the conflict between the villagers and Obi because the Africans at the time resisted the change that Obi enforced within the school. The setting of the school and village enhances the conflict because the school represents the transformation of society, while the village captures the stubborn, old way of living.

In the form of African culture, the country Ghana has its own definitive form that is somehow similar with other African country’s culture but different in various elements. This is why it is the most intrinsic characteristic of Ghananese culture; with its deployment of systems, structures and social elements, it is set apart from other African cultures. But what should be given importance is its original context, which also sprung from the African importance of culture. According to Steven J. Salm and Toyin Falola (2002), “Africans regard culture as essential to

The cultural diversity and advancements portray the progression developed in African history. The growth of these two subcontinents prove that American and European historians were incorrect on how advanced and civilized Africa was.

In modern society, most traditions are viewed as customs that unify people, strengthening relationships between family, friends, and community. In contrast, Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman blatantly exhibit how outdated traditions in history have severed relations amongst people, acting as divisive forces rather than unifying practices. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Lottery”, old traditions of the societies in the stories incite conflict amongst the characters, negatively influencing relationships between and within characters.

A debate ensures on a proper definition of Africana and it extends to culture. There are discrepancies between various Africana Studies scholars on the exact definition. Wade Nobles, defined culture as “a general design for living and patterns for interpreting reality.” Based on the Kawaida Theory of culture, he describes culture as a “scientific construct” and explains it in a tertiary model. In the first two levels, it includes behaviors or patterns that are developed in reality. Furthermore, he defines the two levels; the primary consist of what he calls “cultural factors” and the secondary level as “cultural aspects”. The third level involves expressing the behaviors such as language or ideas. That is where the differences in culture can

“Remotely Global: Village Modernity in West Africa” by Charles Piot is a book based on the lives of the people of the remote village called Kabre located in Northern Togo. The author discusses the “vernacular modernity” of the people of Kabre village that has been influenced by a long tradition of encounters with outsiders that included the colonialists. The author provides an in-depth analysis with ethnographic details about the Kabre people as the author discusses a wide range of their culture and history that included houses and the structure of homestead, gender ideology, ritual like initiations, exchange system, and social relations (Piot 178).

1. “The particular cultures and societies of Africa and of the Americas discussed in this chapter

Tradition is an important part of everyone's life. Some people follow traditions so deeply rooted in their everyday life that they don't even recognize them as such. Why do you cook rice a certain way? Well, that's the way Grandma always did it. Others hold tradition above anything else. They feel that it is very important to follow these established customs and cannot even imagine rebelling against them although they may be hurtful in some ways. They may not even remember the reason for these customs in the first place. In the short stories "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker, and "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, the authors both express their attitudes towards tradition.

In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four

The author’s effort to display oral literature, including expressing Ghanaian English speaking and non-English speaking society, in her work reflects her own persona as a contemporary writer resembling the African oral traditions and art work. “Shall I go to Cape Coast, or to Elmina I don’t know, I can’t tell. I don’t know, I can’t tell,” (Aidoo) Language, mainly English, is promoted to throughly capture various backgrounds and events of the play. Aidoo tries to distinguish Eulalie’s American-English speech that instantly alienates her from the rest of the characters. The author also quite succeeds in reflecting Ato’s educated language with a hint of lecturing that proves he has been indeed abroad, as oppose to his Ghanaian family. It crucially exposes the impact of colonialism on communication between Africans with distinctive educational and social situations, as for instance, the married couple’s complexed struggle to not only fully accept their cultural differences but also keep and hold onto their own identities. Aidoo also catches the inflections and outcomes of oral literature by using simple songs, traditional proverbs and imagery, such as the interesting ones in the dialogue between the two old Ghanaian women. “1st W.:But you know, my sister, That my name is Lonesome. I

This essay will first state a brief description of tradition and modernity, to explain the distinction between two societies. Then will explore the attribute of traditional society while it also references more scholarly explanation such as John K.