What is culture? They say it is the totality way of life, that was the definition embedded in our minds while growing up, when we never truly understood what the totality in the definition means. Culture helps carves our identity, giving us a sense of belonging. It shapes everything, our passion, our thinking and sense of nationality.
We all have different definitions of what what culture means, to me it is a feeling that originates from being a part of a specific geographical zone that represents the root of families or an ancestral land or location. As a person who is deeply rooted in the Yoruba tribe, I cherish my culture a lot, it is a kind of culture especially among majority of Yorubas to be identified by their hometown. People from similar hometown are said to have similarities in their pattern of behaviour, a result of cultural identity.
Agriculture from where I'm from is known as a culture before the world recognised it as a source of income. We engage in agriculture as a hobby something we love doing. Different countries have some kind of culture they are known for, for Nigerians among such culture we are known for is Agri-culture. A practice passed down from generation to generation which has made Nigeria economy thrive to high places during those days when agriculture was practised across the nation.
Though we were not developed in terms of infrastructure and technologies but we were happy because prices of commodities were not beyond what we could afford since there was sufficient farm products creating an endless circle of food supply. A part of me would have gladly blamed civilisation for the present state of this practice but would it make it get any better? To an extent I'm glad to be born in the 90s when agriculture still thrives, though not for long.
Is there a culture I would love to practice, even if it is not mine? There is one, a very unique one. It belongs to a country that refuse to allow their culture be swept away by civilisation. They found ways to make their culture flourish alongside modernisation.
I have mentioned it in a few post before about how much I respect Korea's culture, over the years I have nurtured different kind of aspirations and admiration for some of the sculptures and traditions I have seen in movies. Though it might seem ancient but I am greatly fascinated by how those things came to be. Most of the stories about the foundation of the ancient kingdom of Geogoyeo are mostly portrayed in kdramas, I guess it is their way of reminding themselves of their origin and history which is just my speculation and assumption of reasons behind most of kdrama that focuses on traditional sequence.
It is quite magical to travel through time by assimilating fabrics of history portrayed and illustrated in these movies. I guess the assumption of uses and gratification theory of communication must be right which outlined the fact that people seek out the media to satisfy some specifics needs in my own case the more kdrama series I consume the more interested I'm in their life style. It should be noted that as humans we are led by the intangible imaginations in our minds, As insignificant as it might seem at first it piles up and dictates our area of focus
In most developing countries, it is mostly considered an act of development as they tend to demolish most cultural buildings to create space for modern houses. it doesn't seem to be a wrong practice to an extent, as this practice tends to attract investors and develop the country into a modern tourist attraction. As advantageous as it might seem in fostering development, this act is known to also serve as an impediment to cultural heritages. Culture is more than just language and people, Historical buildings and sculptures also play a part.
Apart from the way Korea is portrayed in movies, I have always been amazed by how they manage to induct modern lifestyle while keeping their cultural heritage in place which is something rare among developing nations. The cultural aspect of Koreans goes beyond their sculptures, drawings, languages, they also carry it along into the modern world. For instance there are some restrictions on the kind of movies that can be displayed on the most popular movie streaming network such as Netflix in korea. I read an article about 2 year ago about how a movie called "it is okay not to be okay" was facing some charges due to how gruesome some of the adult scenes acted in the movie were.
In this current era where there is barely any significance placed on the importance of such restrictions, to see a country still uphold such pillar of decency is something that I consider to be highly commendable. I'm not saying they are saints but I applaud their public showcase of the importance of upholding their cultural background.
I would not say that is all I admire about Korea's culture, like I said earlier there is more to culture than sculptures and buildings, just like the old definition goes "culture is a totality way of life of group of people" so what is culture without the food aspect of it lol, I'm sure you guessed it already. There are a list of Korean foods I have gotten accustomed to from most of their movies, Kimchi, Bibimbap, Rice cake (tteokbokki) e.t.c Well these are the popular dishes I'm aware of from the series I have watched, there are more but let's leave it at that lol.
This write-up was inspired by week 26 SciFi multiverse prompt titled "Culture" in SciFi multiverse community.
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