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South Africa’s cultural diversity
essay of South Africa cultural diversity
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South Africa is a nation with a wonderful and varied culture. This country has been called “The Rainbow Nation”, a name that reflects the diversity of such amazing place. The different ethnic and cultural groups of the South Africa do, however, appreciate their own beliefs and customs. Many of these traditions, besides African culture, are influenced by European and Western heritage. The complex and diverse population of the country has made a strong impact to the various cultures. There are forty-five million people; about thirty million are black, five million white, three million coloured and one million Indians. The black population has a large number of rural people living in poverty. It is among these inhabitants that cultural customs are preserve the most.
South Africa is such a beautiful country abundant of life and hope. Africa 's landscape is composed of wide open spaces, brownish hills and red sunsets. These prodigious backgrounds depict the nature of the culture in South Africa. Culture is what makes Africa special and aside from beautiful landscapes, the fervent and contrasting culture in South Africa is what makes it unique. This is a country were there are people with different beliefs and traditions, but at the end they are identified by their pride of being from South Africa.
There are eleven official languages in South Africa; they are English, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sepedi, Xhosa, Venda, Tswana, Southern Sotho, Zulu, Swazi and Tsonga. South Africa also recognizes eight unofficial languages: Fanagalo, Khoe, Lobedu, Nama, Northern Ndebele, Phuthi, San and South African Sign Language. Even the variation of languages and dialects reflect the diversity of the culture. Heritage, culture, customs or...
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...In South Africa cultural diversity is a sense of behavior that has been learned from hard experiences passed through communication from one generation to the next.
Ethnicity plays a large role in South Africa’s culture. Ethnic identity, refers to the participation in a certain cultural group. It is defined by shared cultural practices, such as holidays, language, and customs. People from South Africa can share the same nationality but have different ethnic groups. Ethnic groups may be either a minority or a majority in a population such as black and white in South Africa, but cultural diversity is a referral to human qualities which are different from our own and those of groups that one may belong. The diversity of culture in South Africa reflects the many dimensions including but not limited to: ethnicity, traditions, customs, beliefs
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What is culture? Culture is commonly defined as the set of values and beliefs people have about how the world(both nature and society) works as well as the norms of behavior derived from that set of values.Culture is just a way of life shared with a group people. However,cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds, non-profit organizations, and government agencies whose employees work with persons from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds. To really understand what cultural competence is you have to first get the full meaning of what culture is. Cultural competence may also be associated with diversity and from an organizational communication perspective, a diverse culture. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. Africa is divided into a great number of ethnic cultures.
Such context is crucial when analyzing what makes the country rich in custom, belief and culture which extends to various countries in African. However, such notion has been inexistence since festival and tourism plays a great impact in physical and environment, political and economy. Most research has tended to ignore or play down the impact which results from environmen...
To me, cultural diversity is the ability to assimilate parts of other cultures into your own without fear of reprisal; to be able to learn from others and not have to worry about somebody saying that “you’re just appropriating from (insert culture here).”In the end it all boils down to respect of other of other cultures that you are around.
Secondly, he said that nations are not the best units to study cultural differences (McSweeney, 2000). This is a key criticism as it guides you to the fact that people in a nation tend to have similar cultural beliefs and traditions. This is a point clearly seen in South Africa where people from all reaches of life and all different areas of the country and completely ...
This location/period of time is best known for their vast cultural diverseness, but is mainly rooted around family and one’s ethnic group. To keep their culture alive the people of Africa use art, music, and oral literature to pass traditions from generation to generation. The high number of subcultures results in hundreds of languages, as well as dialects within those languages across the continent. Even though all of those languages are used, only elven are officially seen by the government ("Countries," n.d.).
Diversity globally to me means the different countries in the continent. Such as China, America, South Africa, Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan and many more. These countries have many different cultures. The cultural values of a community give it an identity of its own. Communities achieve a character and a personality of their own, because of the culture of its people. Culture is shared by the members of a community. It is learned and passed from the older generations to the newer ones. For an effective transfer of culture from one generation to another, it has to be translated into symbols. Language, art and religion serve as the symbolic means of transfer of cultural values between generations. Culture is a bond that ties the people of a country or community together. It is because there is one common bond, which brings the people of a community together. The customs and traditions that the people of a community follow the festivals and holidays they celebrate the kind of clothing they wear, the food they eat, and most importantly, the cultural values they live by. This is what brings them all together.
Jeffery Alexander was an American sociologist who founded the principle of cultural sociology. He stated that society is confined to structural forces, more so economic forces. These social structures are seen as external to individuals and that these forces have led to unique cultural responses from which the individual could protect themselves from the consequences of the economic structures. The study of the cultural lifestyles of the individuals in what Alexander calls the ‘sociology of culture’. Many African intellectuals such as Steve Biko, Tiyo Soga and S.E.K. Mghayi play a central role in the development of sociology in South African as well as providing important readings. As a broad topic, this essay will focus on the cultural society
African traditions have numerous, solemn cultures that follow desired values, which are passed down over years. These strong customs shape these cultures to be cherished and privileged for their revered roots. African countries share divergent customs with their uncommon cultures. Even though Africa has so many cultures, they still share many common traditions that are still carried out today.
South Africa is mostly made up of tribes, it is a huge part of the community there. A tribe is defined as social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.Some of these tribes are: Zulu tribe which is the largest. Then there is the Wolof tribe, followed by the Samboro tribe. These are just a few out of hundreds of tribes.75% are black, 13% are white, 8% are coloured and 2% are Indian. So as you can see South Africa is very diverse and not just all black like some people may think. In South Africa they believe that it is the father's job to provide for the family, although as times change mother’s are working as well. It is also believed that the mother makes most of the authoritative decisions in the family. Depending on the mother or father’s schedule dinner can be eaten together or separately, most of the time the kids cook for themselves when they get home from school. Students/kids of the household are expected to be responsible for themselves in school work and chores. They are ...
In Cape Town we have a very rich culture and heritage, starting as early as the Khoisan era and leading up to the liberated society that we are today. South Africa has progressed through many different trials and tribulations throughout the years, conquering numerous noteworthy feats such as slavery and the Apartheid struggle (Bray, 2008). “South Africa is democratic developing country where everybody has the right to vote so that their voices may be heard” (Smith, 1999).
The concept of cultural diversity is found in various aspects of life, and it continues to live all around us. For instance, in China, people are allowed only to have a baby, but in other countries, no restrictions are placed on raising children. Moreover, many restaurants serve hot tea instead of water in Hong Kong, but in other societies, this cultural act is considered bizarre. Admittedly, these differences are very interesting because they are the main source of creating unique identities, and without them life is going to be very tedious, and people won’t be able to learn new concepts and develop their identities. In fact, a diverse culture is not only found in countries and nations but also in education, organizations, and so on. Indeed,
Due to the apartheid, today black South Africans are angered towards white people. Crime and violence is now extremely popular in ...
The Zulu people are now enmeshed in South Africa's modern, industrial economy and society, with the largest population of them still in the region of KwaZulu Natal on the eastern coast. There has been an adaptation of traditional beliefs to allow for Christian, medical, agricultural, mechanical and other rational, scientific approaches of the Europeans. However, despite the cultural diffusion of Western thought and religion among the Zulu people, traditional thinking, according to Berglund (1976), is not only still very much present in Zulu society, but is receiving mor...
The South African educational system has been through many changes dealing with cultural, political, and social issues. There has always been a concern about equal academic opportunities for all the races within South Africa. Where most of the black South African students are given the disadvantage and the White students have the advantages. It wasn’t until 1994 when things took a slight turn for black students in South Africa. That year marked the end of the apartheid. Theoretically non-white students were now offered the same education as Whites. Although in South Africa there are still some areas that the government should offer more beneficial teaching and learning for all of the non-white students. These challenges the South African education systems have been through and are now in the process will further influence an equal opportunity for black South African students. The question this research paper asks is, about how does education vary for black and white students in South Africa, after apartheid ended? There are still economic, political, and racial difficulties for non-white individuals.