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| Farshad Bonyady |
"What is culture?", "What do we mean by Afghan Culture?", "Is Afghan Culture under threat?", "What are the factors that threaten Afghan Culture?" "Can we stop the changing trend of Afghan Culture and if yes, then how?" are questions that i have been dealing with for some times and in this article I would like to share my views with you.
Till now different definitions of Culture has been given, each focusing on specific aspects. One of these definitions says that "Culture is a complex and dynamic social system that has been created along by the evolution of mankind, for his better adaptation with social and natural life and for continuation of a more healthy and creative life, that transits generation by generation. It includes information, believes, arts, moralities, laws, behaviors and all other skills that has been acquired by people as members of a society."
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| A glimps of Afghan Culture |
Considering the above definition, we can infer that Afghan Culture is the accumulated material and immaterial achievements of Afghans that includes various celebrations such as Gul-e-Sorkh (Red Flower), Samanak, Farmers' ceremony, Haft-Meiva, Independence Day; various Types of music encompassing Classical Music, Theosophical Music; numerous kinds of sports such as Buzkashi, Athletic, Hunting and last but not the least, the Afghan Arts. Afghans have developed each part of their culture during their long social existence; however, each part has undergone certain changes according to the changes incurred in society.
Moving forward, I would like to pursue whether Afghan culture is under threat or not and if yes, then what are the Potential threats?
Each nation's culture is changing successively in according to changes in other aspects of society that is economics and politics and of course, it must change. Since, culture is the mean of better adjustment of human beings with nature and seeing the fact that nature and social life undergoes changes, culture also must bare certain changes. If by Afghan Culture's being under threat, we mean the changes it faces, then I must claim that yes, it is facing changes and it is under threat and it can't be stopped. But if by Afghan Culture's being under threat, we mean its total overturn then I would like to assume that such potential threat doesn't exist, however there are certain factors that has already harmed Afghan Culture and if not controlled, in the long run, it would impose dramatic changes.
These factors include war, corrupt and failed state, globalization and ignorance.
Ø War has been the most dominant and harmful threat to Afghan culture and it still remains the same, specially, when the combating sides have poor war morale or totally lake it. We Afghans have experienced this vicious phenomena more than other nations. More than thirty years of imposed aggressive and civil wars has left nothing but a lifeless society. Along by these wars which resulted in failure of the protecting bodies, opportunists theft and trafficked whatever valuables they found. Besides the harmful physical impacts, war can impose harmful mental and psychological impacts also; the outcome would be a mass of aggressive and obsessive people. On the other hand, in a war torn society, since culture can't meet the demands of the people and can't continue its normal trend, the people then mimics other's cultural elements and this creates an imitative culture.
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| The Murdered Buddha and the Taliban |
Ø Corrupt, Failed and Partial State is the other threatening factor that can cause dramatic changes in cultural existence of the society. They either can't protect the cultural monuments of the society or deliberately manipulates various aspects of a nation or an ethnic group's cultural existence. What we experienced in these field, was Taliban's Oppressive and illogical governance. From the beginning they intentionally attacked numerous socio-cultural institutions and monuments for implementation of Sharia. These Chauvinists tried their best to suppress other ethnic minorities. In fulfilling their desire of Promoting Sharia Goodness and Avoiding Badness, they suppressed to the utmost and demolished whatever they found. A Minor example is the demolition of Buddha Statues that long resisted all the natural disasters. Their reactionary ideological positioning which opposed each and every western-style achievements even resulted into fighting visual fine arts such as painting and cinema, a situation where the entire archive of Afghan cinema could have been lost.
Ø Globalization is an economic, social and cultural process through which peoples pertaining to different cultural geographies contact each other and affect their behaviors mutually. This phenomenon in its centrally industrialized form fastened its role by 1830s. It acted in cultural, social, economic, technological and communication contemporaneously.
Modern scientific technologies such televisions and internet which are the tools of globalization has been affecting every corner of the world including mega cities, remote deserted areas and mountainous communities, instruments that have changed the tastes, habits, behaviors and customs. Adding to these Cinemas, we would see that these changes get folded. Globalization affects the societies positively or negatively in accordance to the flexibilities and knowledge of the people residing there. Afghan culture
isn't and can't be excluded from this fact. Among these new technologies, Afghan Culture faces major threats of change from Hollywood and Bollywood, which are the tools of soft power. In Our society, most of the women may not know the name of minister of Women's Affair, but they certainly know the name of female protagonist of "Kasauti zindagi Ki". We can see in the streets that the Araqchin hat and Pakool which used to be the classic fashions of Afghan youth has been replaced with modern stylish hats. We can see that Velvet and Brocade cloths that used to be the typical design of Afghan women and girls have given its position to Sari, Punjabi and so on.
The other cultural impact of globalization is the institutionalization of Consumption Culture and cultural consumption in backward countries. We no longer use eggs, Potatos boiled in their jackets (Kachalo Joshak) or home-made chips as fast food, instead we use Macdonald's Burgers and chips. It is obvious that unless you change the taste of a youth, you can't sell your hair gel, your sunglasses, your shaving cream and machine, your fair and lovely anti-sunshine cream. It's really obvious that the globalized capitalist system, for promoting their scale of production and market, as a primary plan changes the potentially resistant elements of local culture whether it's their religious values ortheir custom local perception of nature. As an Example, to dispatch the women as cheap labor force to market, they need to manipulate and change the classic and prevalent religious mindset and believes of that society. Or the contemporary believe about women as has been said by the Ministry of Women's Affairs is " World is a market and its most precious good is women." This is not the ending point of the story. The developing countries that have been experiencing standstill in their normal lives, have long been using the goods produced by others, the habits produced by others, the tastes of others and even the thoughts of others.
Therefore, it can be seen that globalization is one of the change imposing factors on Afghan Culture and by inserting new lifestyles makes a compound and imitative lifestyle and besides that creates individual identities.
Ø Ignorance can be another threatening factor to cultural life of a nation because people are also equally responsible to protect their favored and positive lifestyles and cultural monuments. In the absence of this, as an example, people even try to build housings on places that are important historically and the places that must be kept aside of such structures. Beside this, war, failed and corrupt state, consumption culture and cultural consumption have causal relation with ignorance of society. In other words, wise people can never be victims of deliberate wars and failed states and counteracts strange negative aspects of other's cultural elements.
Beside these four major factors, we might be able to assume natural disasters threatening historical monuments, which is a rare phenomena and their might be other major factors that I have been ignorant with.
To this point, I hope that I have answered the question "Is Afghan Culture under threat?". "How to protect Afghan Culture?" is another question that needs to be answered. Well, do we really need to do so? Do we need to protect each and every element of Afghan Culture? What are your answers? My answer is no! A Bold No!
As I mentioned earlier that culture is a complex system that is created simultaneously with production system for further welfare of human life in societies. It must be remembered that culture is dependent to the producing system and in its evolution process, bears certain negative aspects that slow down the normal socio-cultural and economic development. Therefore a culture has the eligibility of being protected that guarantees social welfare.
The following elements of Afghan Culture needs not only to be protected but instead must be fought with.
Though we have various auspicious Sports, but sports such as Dog Fighting, Camal Fighting, Partridge Fighting, Cock Fighting and Hunting are all vulgar sports that are deep rooted in our culture and are the outcomes of our condemnable mindsets regarding these animals. Feudal and traditional culture is the most reactionary element of Afghan Culture. The places where it is as vital as it was, is the most backward regions of Afghanistan, though they themselves may not know. This culture is mainly featured by Paternalism, Bacha Bazi, lake of mutual respect, understanding and acceptance, regionalism, Destinism, wrong believes regarding society, nature and life, Talisman-writing, geomancy and Tribal Chauvinism. Finally, I would like to Conclude that Afghan Culture alike other cultures in the world is in its non-stoppable process of gradual changes in accordance to global, regional and national social life changes and we can't stop it. The only thing we can do is to fight the reactionary elements of our culture and decrease the scale of damages incurred by unwanted and imposed war and natural disasters, or simply by managing the unavoidable and avoiding the un-manageable.
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