If given the opportunity, would you be willing to leave your culture and ideals behind to understand the way other people live, just to teach them something that will benefit their daily lifestyle and not yours? The novel "The Ponds of Kalambayi," written by Mike Tidwell, is a story based on the life of a Peace Corps agent sent to Kalambayi with the mission of "teach [ing] a man how to raise fish, [so] he eats forever" (). During his stay, Mike Tidwell had the opportunity to experience many good things in Kalambayi, along with many depressing ones. Kalambayi, and many other places in Africa were hesitant at first on whether they were willing to trust a "Mutoka," a white person, because of their earlier negative encounters with foreign white people. …show more content…
Reading this novel, I was able to discover two major themes: connection and disconnection. Mike talks about how he experienced many things an average person would have never experienced if they never went to a third world country, such as Priests who walk on hot rocks, daily funerals, the over-the-top generosity of the people who were less fortunate, and the need of Fufu in every dinner table. After reading the novel, I was able to compare some of the encounters the Kalambayi people faced with those taught in class. During class, I realized that globalization affected the people of Kalambayi drastically when it involved the diamond minds and cotton farming, yet Kalambayi is still alienated on the conflicts and the lives of the outside world. On the other hand, Mike Tidwell was still able to carry out his mission of teaching the villagers about fish culture while facing the truth behind globalization in a third world
In the novel ‘Us Mob Walawurru’ Composed by David Spillman and Lisa Wilyuka we observe the life of a young Aboriginal girl and the dilemmas that she and the Luritja people must face. The narrative illustrates the significance of respect in the Luritja tribe. It is presented that respect is shown to all cultures and backgrounds which makes a very caring and joyful atmosphere. The Walawurru community honour their laws and guidelines, and use the land with great admiration. Although in times disrespect is shown by some of the Walawurru members, overall respect is an extremely important aspect in the Walawurru people’s lives.
Drugs and gang affiliation influence the youth in the communities with resources to escape for better things being so limited. This film shows issues that coincide with the class as well, we have pushed the indigenous people off of their lands and limited them so much that this is the life that they are forced to live. Environmental issues with these problems include drugs going into the water streams and waste, old furniture being disposed of by burning it. The conditions of life for the people living on this reservation is very bleak and the director does an astonishing job at showing
Monique and the Mango Rains is a book that details the experiences that Kris Holloway went through when she went to Mali and meat Monique. In this essay I will analyze some of the things that she went through while there from a cultural realistic perspective. Cultural Relativism is the comprehension and understanding of a particular group’s beliefs and practices from that particular culture’s perspective. Some of things that I will analyze are the economic factors that result in not having adequate resources, the social structure of families in Mali including the sizes of families, and the Healthcare that which plays a critical role in how people live.
The chapter I read opened my eyes to Culture and Conflict. The story discussed conflict between Bina and Kevin, and their relationship with Binas parents. Binas parents were unimpressed that Bina decided to marry a man from a different culture, which is an untraditional act. This caused conflict between Bina and Kevin’s relationship. Kevin promised Bina that he would try and practice a more Indian lifestyle, but over time these promises started to fail. This put tension on their relationship and often made Bina feel self-conscious about her relationship. In the end Bina came to realize she could practice still practice her culture, Kevin’s family’s culture and their new Canadian culture.
Jared Diamond begins Guns with a prologue which sets the stage for the rest of the book. Approached in New Guinea by his friend and local politician Yali, he is posed a question: "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" Yali's question flared a nerve in Diamond. This question brought about the thesis of his book, that environment is more persuasive on development of civilization than people may have once thought.
In Crow Lake, Mary Lawson portrays a family who experience a great tragedy when Mr. and Mrs. Morrison are killed in a car accident. This tragedy changes the lifestyles of the seven years old protagonist Kate Morrison and her siblings Matt, Luke and Bo. The settings are very important in this novel. Though there are limited numbers of settings, the settings used are highly effective. Without effective use of themes in this novel, the reader would not have been able to connect with the characters and be sympathetic. Lawson uses an exceptionally high degree of literary devices to develop each character in this novel.
Kate Morrison is a well educated, independent woman with a decent job, supportive boyfriend and family. Externally, Kate has a life that some people might envy of but, internally, she isn’t as stable as she seems. Crow Lake, a novel written by Mary Lawson, leads the readers to the protagonist, Kate Morrison and the struggles in her life. Kate loses her parents in her early age and for this reason she lives with her siblings with some help from her neighbours and other family members. Despite the absence of her parents, Kate and her siblings seem to grow well. Although there is some crisis in the family, they seem to be inevitable consequences of not having an adult in the family. However, Kate spends an innumerable amount of time accepting and letting go of the past and eventually it causes another crisis in her present life. She continuously has some kind of depression, and she does not realize that her depression is coming from herself, not from anything or anybody else. Crow Lake contains a great message that shows refusing to face the past affects your future negatively. We see ...
His writing is very informal as he studies this tribe and also compares and contrasts the group of Pygmies to Africans in a local town (newer tribe). He takes the BaMbuti tribe (pygmies) who are perhaps a 10,000-year-old tribe, and he compares them to a group in the Bantu village, who lives right next to the forest and are a more recent tribe. He begins his writing by introducing the readers to the pygmies. He goes through and introduces multiple families and their family members, making it more real. He introduces Ekianga and his multiple wives, Kenge, and others.
An important theme in Potiki is the enduring idea that creating and sharing stories as a central part of being human is important. It is a significant theme because the novel is heavily imbued with Maori culture, in which the stories and spoken teachings are given prominence, and also because it is a popular belief that people need narratives to give meaning, structure and value to their lives. This theme is displayed resolutely and poignantly in Potiki’s plot, characters, setting and symbolism, as the people of a small rural New Zealand community rediscover themselves through stories spoken and found in Maori carvings. The idea that humans need narratives is the core theme in Potiki, and it is used also to link other themes and aspects of the novel; it is in this way that we know the idea of storytelling is an intrinsic part of the novel’s structure.
Being different from someone not only motivates me to learn, but also use the differences to make something great that could possibly only happen with a multitude of ideas and viewpoints. With my Eritrean background, I would love to incorporate my culture to how I live and learn, but also gain knowledge from those who have different cultures and customs that make them who they are, and grow with the help of each
Though he tries to remain analytical, questioning if indeed “... [in] The 21st century, there were still nomadic hunter-gatherers out there using stone tools and rubbing sticks together to start a fire,” Behar soon begins to exhibit visceral reactions to the environment (Behar, 1). Though he claims to be in Papua for journalistic purposes, Behar cannot maintain an impartial disposition. After contact with tribesmen one of Woolford’s native outfitters believed to be native peoples, Behar undergoes a transformation. That evening, he begins to fear his surroundings, telling readers “The jungle is claustrophobic and, at times, maddening—the incessant rain, heat, and mud, the screeching of cicadas, the eerie sensation we're being watched” (Behar, 9). Abandoning his logical, systematic disguise, Behar becomes paranoid, becoming one with the primeval essence of the jungle.
The Boli, or altar, figure from the Bamana peoples of Mali is a unique piece of art not based on what an individual knows about the figure, but rather what it doesn’t. The Boli has a secretive quality that harness energy from the community and peoples reactions to the Boli can fluctuate based on their interpretations on the object. The Boli is made of materials ranging from human bodily fluid to sticks and string. The figure is generally made to resemble an animal, typically a hippopotamus or cow, but over time with sacrificial material covering the figure it can become somewhat unclear. The Bamana peoples have an obscure relationship with the Boli for many reasons that could sprout from the materials it is made from, its uses in the society, and its extremely secretive nature.
Korang, Kwaku Larbi. “Making a Post-Eurocentric Humanity: Tragedy, Realism, and Things Fall Apart.” Research in African Literatures 42.2 (2011): 1–29. ProQuest. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
As Americans we live in isolation, surrounded by advertisements, electronic screens, fast food, the internet, etc. We live these lives while thousands scream out in hunger and thirst begging to nourish their families. Living lives in excess, often unknowingly supporting a system that is not sustainable, breeds capitalism, and unplugs us from the rest of the world. Having been raised in a typical suburban home my ideas of culture were going to Olive Garden or walking by Riverside in Minneapolis. However, Geography 111 has challenged what I believed, truly allowing me to grasp that I am not part of solution I am problem that spreads neocolonialism, capitalism, and western culture wherever a profit can be made. Learning about these topics and combining it with a geographical perspective I know will enable me to break from the molds and forge new paths.
Bibliography w/4 sources Cry , the Beloved Country by Alan Paton is a perfect example of post-colonial literature. South Africa is a colonized country, which is, in many ways, still living under oppression. Though no longer living under apartheid, the indigenous Africans are treated as a minority, as they were when Paton wrote the book. This novel provides the political view of the author in both subtle and evident ways. Looking at the skeleton of the novel, it is extremely evident that relationship of the colonized vs. colonizers, in this case the blacks vs. the whites, rules the plot. Every character’s race is provided and has association with his/her place in life. A black man kills a white man, therefore that black man must die. A black umfundisi lives in a valley of desolation, while a white farmer dwells above on a rich plot of land. White men are even taken to court for the simple gesture of giving a black man a ride. This is not a subtle point, the reader is immediately stricken by the diversities in the lives of the South Africans.