A Cultural Negotiation. Is culture up for grabs?

I can open any platform and find out what is happening in Dakar, Senegal, at 2pm. I can learn about any country and its people’s culture within seconds. You and I can broadcast our very own culture to the world in the coming minutes. We can do this because of the magic that is media. Reader, is it not by means of media that you were able to find this article? Come to think of it, there was a time when culture was not so easily shared, when it existed within communities rather than on global platforms. Can you imagine that? Also, what do you think about culture in this give and take moment we living though? I wonder what our ancestors would say about this globalisation— this perceived connection through the means of media and the digital bridge. In fact, what is culture? What is it to you? And, why is it important, or maybe, why isn’t it?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, culture is defined as: “The characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time”. This definition comes closest to how I understand it. Culture really is humanity in motion, in existence. It’s a special thing to cultivate a space in the mosaic that is the world and claim it as your culture. How special to occupy the world with the things that are characteristic of your people, land, or time. Now, we’re in an era where these cultures live in close proximity to each other, thanks to landscape shifters known as media and globalisation. Yes, Cultures no longer exist in isolation from one another. The question, however, is not whether cultures can be shared, but whether they should be—and to what extent.