Comparisons Culture Between Ghana And Colombia Cultural Studies Essay

Comparisons Culture Between Ghana And Colombia Cultural Studies Essay Cultural festival is a important thing. Its needed for all of us. All peoples needed to know about cultural festival. So I take Colombia and Ghana 2 countries for my assignment. Make assignment Different cultural groups think, feel, and act differently. There is no scientific standard for considering one group as intrinsically superior or inferior to another. Studying differences in culture among groups and societies presupposes a position of cultural relativism. It does not imply normalcy for oneself, and for ones society. It, however, calls for judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from ones own. Information about the nature of cultural differences between societies, their roots, and their consequences should precede judgment and action. Cultural relativism is the view that all beliefs, customs, and ethics are relative to the individual within his own social context. In other words, right and wrong are culture-specific; what is considered moral in one society may be considered immoral in another, and, since no universal standard of morality exists, no one has the right to judge another societys customs. Cultural relativism is widely accepted in modern anthropology. Cultural relativists believe that all cultures are worthy in their own right and are of equal value. Diversity of cultures, even those with conflicting moral beliefs, is not to be considered in terms of Right and wrong or good and bad. Comparisons Culture between Ghana and Colombia: Ghana and Colombia both are highly established country by culture. Both of these countries have their own culture based on their location, language, religion, climate, food etc. Ghanas culture: Main article: History of Ghana There is archaeological evidence which shows that humans have lived in what is present day Ghana from about 1500 BC.[11] Nonetheless, there is no proof that those early dwellers are related to the current inhabitants of the area. Oral tradition has it that many of Ghanas current ethnic groups such as the multi-ethnic Akan, the Ga and the Ewe arrived around the 13th Century. Figure: 1 Ashanti yam ceremony, 19th century by Thomas E. Bowdich Facts and Statistics: AKWAABA! (Welcome) greets visitors as they arrive at the airport in the capital city of Accra. In 1957, Ghana (formed from the merger of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory) became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Today it is one of the most thriving democracies on the African continent. Currently the countrys economy is dominated by agriculture, which employs about 40 percent of the working population. Location: Ghana shares boundaries with Togo to the east, Cote dIvoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north and the Gulf of Guinea, to the south; only a few degrees north of the Equator. Area: total: 238,533 sq km Land: 227,533 sq km Water: 11,000 sq km Area Comparative: Slightly smaller than Oregon Current Weather: Tropical: warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north Figure2:Ghanasmap Population: Total 18,412,247 Religions: Ghana is a Muslim country. The Ghanas language: Different sources give different figures for the number of languages of Ghana. This is because of different classifications of varieties as either languages or dialects. Ethnologue lists a total of 79 languages. Ghanas 3 Society Culture The Ghanas Family: At the center of Ghanaian society is the institution of family. Sustained through a series of kinship networks and marriages, the family is acknowledged as the bedrock of all social life. The family is not only the basis of Ghanaian social organizations, but is also the main source of social security in old age (emotionally and financially) and the primary or sole caretaker for the young. Ghanas Pride: Russians are proud of their country. Patriotic songs and poems extol the virtues of their homeland. They accept that their lives are difficult and pride themselves on being able to flourish in conditions that others could not. They take great pride in their cultural heritage and expect the rest of the world to admire it. Communal Mentality: This is a remarkable piece of writing. Leadership compassionate, caring, and responsible leadership is threatened in Ghana. I am particularly interested in the issue of chiefs and the sale of communal land to foreigners and non-aliens alike. Why should a farmer lose their ancestral land to a rich property developer who has paid millions of cedis to a chief or his representative? These days it is common proactive for chiefs and their Town Planning and Lands Commission cohorts to zone productive agricultural or greenbelt land without any consultation with occupants of the land. Figure3: Ghanas dreams house Despite the presence of Islam and Christianity, traditional religions in Ghana have retained their influence because of their intimate relation to family loyalties and local mores. Figure4: Ghanas tradition Colombia Culture: Many aspects of Colombian culture can be traced back to the early culture of Spain of the 16th century and its collision with Colombias native civilizations (see: Muisca, Tayrona). The Spanish brought Catholicism, African slaves, the feudal encomienda system, and a caste system that favored European-born whites. After independence from Spain, the criollos struggled to establish a pluralistic political system between conservative and liberal ideals. Figure4: Bullfight-Bogotà ¡ Facts and Statistics: Location: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 72 00 W Map references: South America Area: total: 1,138,910 sq km land: 1,038,700 sq km water: 100,210 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, Serrana Bank, and Serranilla Bank Capital: Bogota Population: 42,954,279 (July 2005 est.) Ethnic Groups: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1% Religion: Roman Catholic 90%, other 10% Figure5: Colombia Map Climate: tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands Terrain: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains. Languages in Colombia: The official language of Colombia is Spanish and spoken by around 43 million people. In addition there are approximately 500,000 speakers of American Indian languages. Colombian Society Culture: Catholicism: Most Colombians would consider themselves to be Roman Catholics. The Church has historically been a very important influence over personal affairs such as marriage and family life. The parish church is often seen as the centre of a community, with the local priest representing divine authority and leadership. The Role of the Family: The family takes centre stage in the social structure. It acts as a source of support and advice and therefore great loyalty is shown to families. Although extended families rarely live under one roof, apart from in rural areas, many are still live very close and frequent one anothers houses often. Figure6: Colombia culture Hierarchies: Colombia can be termed a hierarchical society. People earn respect due to age and position. Older people are naturally perceived as being wise and as a result are afforded great respect. Colombian Clothing: Covers a variety of clothes that are commonly worn by the people who live in the country of Colombia in the continent of South America. The climate of Colombia is tropical in the coastal regions and the eastern plains and it is quite cold in the highlands. Therefore, the clothes of Colombia have to cater to a variety of weather conditions. Figure7: Colombian clothing Comparison of Culture: These two countries has their own and individual culture. Both of this culture is far different from one to another. They have different location, different language, different climate, different food, different religion and different cloth. These countries have different government system. Different religion makes them different by cloth from one to another. Most of the people of Ghana are Muslim by religion and they use to put on Islamic dresses. On the other hand, in Colombian total people is Roman Catholic but majority of people follows Ghana Orthodox as their religion. This religion comes from there tradition. So that, they use to puts on traditional dresses. Conclution: Every nation has their culture. This culture is unique and individual from others. Russia and Morocco also has their individual and highly established culture. Both of these cultures are far different from one to another. They have their own language, religion, belief, respect, climate, location, food, cloth etc which differ them from one to another.