Buzz
Take a moment to observe the items in your home, your meals, and even your daily gestures – all of them carry cultural traces. Traditions and cultural perspectives shape who we are as individuals. It’s important to delve deeper into these aspects and explore ways to preserve culture in a strong and lasting manner.
Steps
Engage in traditional activities
Share the arts and technologies of your national culture. Every culture has its unique aspects such as clothing, music, images, religion, and other distinct characteristics. Members of the cultural community will appreciate sharing and discussing their hobbies, work, craftsmanship, and the things they do for leisure. While artworks in museums can showcase some of these elements, material culture goes beyond that. Even a kitchen spoon or a piece of software is a cultural artifact.
- It is often believed that eras where people didn’t have access to advanced technologies were backward and underdeveloped. This belief is completely false. Culture is conveyed through tools adapted to a specific environment, and each tool created requires the development and refinement of many generations. Shaping stone tools is one of the oldest cultural activities and still demands skill and knowledge.
Join or organize major events. Every nation, tribe, religious sect, or migrant community celebrates their own significant holidays or cultural festivals. Participating in these events allows you to broaden your perspective on your national culture. If you’re unsure about events happening in your area, consider organizing your own cultural festival.
Cook with traditional family recipes. Go quickly find your grandmother’s cookbook and follow the instructions. The flavors and aromas of food have the power to connect us to memories. As you knead dough or measure spices, memories of childhood meals will come flooding back. Simply reading the recipe shows how ingredients and kitchen tools have changed over time. Even though some dishes may be unfamiliar, others will become comforting favorites or family treasures.
Tip: If your family doesn’t have a secret recipe, you can buy old cookbooks online or at a flea market. You can also create your own recipe and pass it down to your loved ones.
Spend time with community members. The best way to preserve culture is to keep it alive. Gatherings aren’t only for holidays, but can also be for regular meals, events, or simply for conversation. Many cultural aspects are difficult to learn from books or museums alone; they also reside in social etiquette, body language, and humor.
- Think about the conversations in your local culture and compare them with the popular culture where you live (or compare the two cultures you are exploring). Is there a culture that feels more welcoming and energetic? Could what is considered normal speech in one culture be seen as rude in another? Why do you think that is? This kind of deep analysis can be challenging, but it helps you understand the core of cultural experiences.
Learn about religious traditions. Whether or not you follow the religion of your parents or grandparents, studying it helps you understand their culture. Religion ties together language, history, and personal behavior. Becoming familiar with your family’s religious traditions will provide you with a deeper understanding of these aspects.
Tip: Sacred texts and rituals may be difficult to understand without a guide. Find an expert who is willing to explain their meaning to you. It’s important to read both the texts and their annotations for a deeper understanding.
Use the language of your ancestors. If you know someone from your cultural background who speaks a different language, ask them to teach you. Many linguists and anthropologists believe that language plays a crucial role in shaping a person’s worldview. Moreover, if it’s a rare language, mastering it will prevent you from being eavesdropped on!
- Thousands of languages are at risk of extinction. If you are fluent in one, teach others. Share the knowledge and perspectives that might be lost if the language dies out. If possible, record the language along with written texts, and translate them into more widely spoken languages.
Preserve culture
Choose a topic to focus on. You can capture what you’ve discovered about your culture through research and experiences, even the smallest details. You can’t store everything you need to know about a culture by simply writing it down because there’s just too much to say. Most people choose one of two methods:
- The biography of an individual or family.
- A detailed exploration of a cultural aspect: cooking, humor, and other related topics.
Select your medium. You can choose calligraphy, oral storytelling, or another traditional method to preserve a personal cultural experience. Alternatively, you can upload your project to a website, create DVDs, or any other digital format. This allows your cultural story to be shared widely with people across the globe.
Conduct interviews. Interview people who are part of the historical narrative you're telling, or experts in the field you're writing about. Prepare a set of questions, but also allow the interviewees to share additional topics or stories that might arise. You may discover things you hadn't even thought to ask about.
- Each interview should last 1-2 hours. If the interviewee agrees, you can arrange to come back for a follow-up. This gives you time to prepare questions and allows the interviewee to bring additional material or artifacts they wish to share.
- If the interviewee agrees, record video or audio. This will be more accurate than relying on written notes or memory.
Trace your family’s genealogy. Document your family tree with the help of relatives, and continue updating it over time. There will likely be a branch of cousins or in-laws you’ve never met. You can trace your roots through your family or research online, which could give you an entirely new perspective on your culture. Government websites and physical archives may offer detailed records that span several centuries.
Tip: Ask your family about journals, notes, and other archived materials. Someone in your family may have already started building the family tree a long time ago.
Use the materials you gather to help protect your culture. Minority cultures often have to fight to preserve their traditions for future generations. You can assist by sharing cultural stories and materials with young people, who may lack awareness of their rich cultural heritage. In times of political struggle and social challenges, you can organize forums where people can engage in discussions and cultural activities. Your research can help them understand the core values of their ethnic culture, inspiring everyone to contribute to preserving and strengthening their culture for future generations.
Embrace change. Discussions about cultural preservation often sound pessimistic. Culture is in a 'critical' state or needs to be 'saved' before it completely fades away. While challenges and threats do exist, change is not necessarily a bad thing. Culture helps people adapt to the world around them. The world has always been and will continue to change, and culture evolves with it. You have the right to choose how you want to honor and celebrate your cultural heritage.
Advice
- Most people are part of more than one culture. Be proud of your ability to integrate ideas and behaviors from different cultural backgrounds.
- If you're an art student or a painter, you play a crucial role in promoting and preserving culture through your artwork. Art has a profound influence on how we perceive and reflect on historical development. Your creations help preserve history and culture, while also introducing and shaping societal views during cultural exchange events.
