-
African Values Traditional And Modern In Ama Ata Aidoo’s Changes And Asare Konadu’s A Woman In Her Prime
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 3 of 4
-
-
-
This
refers to past-traditional, past-medieval historical period, one marked
by the move from Feudalism (Or Agrarianism) toward Capitalism,
Industrialization, Secularization, Rationalization, the nation-state and
its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance.(Barker 2005,
444).
In these usages, ―Modernity‖ denotes the renunciation of the
recent past, favouring a new beginning, and a reinterpretation of
historical origin. The distinction between ―Modernity‖ and ―Modern‖ did
not arise until the 19th century (Delanty 2007).
As the African
passes from folk to urban society, life with its complicated money
economy, high technology and international trade, his traditional values
are bound to be affected. Old values disappear; some are refined in
other cases some traditional values suffer disruption, at times to the
point of extinction; in yet other cases the African suffers a reversal
of his traditional values; lastly he creates altogether new values with
consequent tensions.
Some of these values are:
Education:
Increase
in population, in the face of the world wide economic crisis, makes
some parents neglect the traditional education of their children and the
latter, have no opportunity to appreciate traditional ways in life.
Therefore, Western education forms the bedrock of knowledge and skills
to equip such persons in their pursuit of a better world.
Communication:
In
our days, we notice that, the world is becoming a kind of village in
which there is a wide interaction between people and other different
cultures. This phenomenon happens thanks to the new technologies. People
have today the possibility to be aware of what is happening all around
the world. They also have the opportunity to discover other cultures,
other ways of life and behaviours thanks to the radio, television and
other various means of communication like the internet.
Technology
Old
people (Grandfathers and Mothers) are no longer those persons, who
educate Children by means of stories, tales and so on; they are most the
time seen as boring and talkative. Children spend most of their time
playing video games, browsing with their mobile phones, watching
television; they are fond of films through which they discover some
actors that they admire a lot, and at times enjoy bad influences and
pornography.
Marriage
The institution of Marriage was highly
valued by all the traditional cultures in Africa. To a large extent,
especially in the rural areas, it is highly valued even today. The
reason for this is that marriage is the foundation on which families are
built. On its part, the family constitutes the basic social group that
operates most widely and most intensely in the activities of everyday
life.
Human Life
Human life is highly valued in the modern
world, as well as it was in the traditional African communities. In all
other cases, no one is allowed to take away another person‘s life. In
fact, no distinction is made between murder and manslaughter; both are
considered murder.
Morality
Morality is a quality highly valued
by all traditional communities. Indeed, moral values formed the bedrock
of the education that was given to children as they grow up. Moral
values were also impressed on people who were about to Wed or who were
going through one rite of passage to another. Leaders were also expected
to be people of upright character. All these are cherished even today.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 4]
Page 3 of 4
-
