One Global Culture?
You can eat a Big Mac in Beijing, drink Coca Cola in Venezuela, and buy Levi's in Amsterdam. It is one of the outcomes of the proces of globalisation, although sometimes it seems like Western massculture is overtaking other cultures.
Yet, this is not really the case. The large cultural regions in the world remain important constants in global developments. Cultures are being preserved, among other things through education and through national policy. Wherever cultures are oppressed, conflicts are inevitable, and where large cultural regions meet, numerous problems exist.
It is a bit problematic to find criteria for dividing the world into cultural areas. The concept of culture differs from region to region. It brings on associations with civilization, but it is impossible to classify the world according to 'levels of civilization.
It is less controversial to classify the world into cultural areas on the basis of language and religion. That is what we will do here. But beware: each indicator that can be used to classify cultures will produce a different map of the world's cultural mosaic!
Language
In the past, language has often been used by dominant population groups to express their ethnic superiority, or to create national unity in a country. Language is a symbol for ethnic and social identity. That is why minorities are often very devoted to the subsistence of their language.
The map below shows the areas in which some of the world languages are spoken. Even though this map has been generalised to a very large extent, it does give a hint of the complexity of the distribution of languages.
Where people meet, cultural influencing, mixing, or even destruction takes place. For ages, contacts between cultures have resulted from trade and the exchange of produce. As early as the 15th century there was intensive trade between countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The central axis in this trade was the Middle East. The Arabian merchants helped in diffusing scientific and technical knowledge from China to Europe.
Religion
Military supremacy has also contributed to cultural diffusion. Quite often, the colonial expansion did not just have political and economical motives. Religious motives where equally important. For example, after Colombus 'discovered' the America's in 1492, the native people of the 'New World' where ruthlessly subjected to Christianity. Most of the natives did not get the chance to convert; only a few survived the diseases that the Europeans brought with them. The Indian civilizations of the Inca's, the Aztecs, and the Maya's where for ever destroyed.
Events such as these took place also in Africa and in the Far East, although not always as dramatic as in the America's. The outcome of centuries of contacts between people with different cultural backgrounds is a very complex map of religions in the world. Christianity, budhism, Islam and Hinduism have spread over the entire world. Yet, to classify countries under a few world religions does not pay justice to the cultural differences between countries within such a religious realm. Just think about the cultural differences between Islamic Shia's and Sunnits, or between Greek-orthodox catholics and protestants.
Nowadays, processes of cultural diffusion are different than in the past. As a result of globalisation, a proces that was initiated by economic scale-up and the use of modern communication technologies, the delimitations of cultural regions have fainted. Not only does Western culture spread from centres in Europe, de US, and Japan, but also from metropolis in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These cities, that are connected through international trade, have a more or less 'westernized' business district. Not only international trade, but also the mass media, the movie-industry, and tourism cause the diffusion of Western values.
There are many ceremonies which comprise the marriage process.
After the wedding is legally announced, dishes of dates and misri (unrefined sugar) are served to the groom's family. Groom is then escorted to his bride where he’s allowed to site beside his wife. This is the time when sisters-in-law of groom play pranks and tease the groom.
consuming.
customs of Egyptians make it easy for a couple to get to know one another, for the families meet often.
During the betrothal, the pre-wedding meeting between the bride and the groom's parents, the dowry that will be given to the bride is determined as well as the date of the solemnization.
Morocco, one of the gems of the North Africa, is the country with very rich and active traditions. Like other cultures of the world, a Moroccan wedding is a great gala event. It’s celebrated with great fun and festivity.
visit the mosque so as to begin the engagement.
Muslim marriage ceremonies in Ethiopia are centered on a display of generosity. Usually after the declaration of engagement, the groom sends a milking cow to the bride's house. The mother collects the milk to make some butter that will be presented to the groom on the wedding night.
initial approval between the bride and the groom, the engagement is declared in the presence of the tribal leaders and the Sheikhs. The mother of the bride hands the groom buttermilk to drink. This is a sign of her approval and satisfaction with the future husband of her daughter. During the engagement period, the groom comes under the service of the bride's father. He helps him in any type of work that he made need or want to be assisted in.
at in larger towns and cities, where young men and women are more likely to be introduced by family, but then spend time getting to know one another, usually with a family chaperone, before deciding whether or not to marry. Though a minority, some middle and upper class Palestinians enjoy the type of courtship most common in the West, meeting and choosing a spouse on their own, based on love. It has also become common for Palestinians living in exile to marry people from other nations and cultures.
SOMAL marriage laws are practically Muslim marriage laws, with a difference; it is this difference that makes them so interesting to study. A man may have four wives, with all the trouble he deserves in consequence thrown in. He may become engaged to a girl before she is born by making an arrangement with her " prospective parents. The engagement in any case is always arranged between the girl's parents or guardians, and is clinched by a small present from the man to them as a token of finality. This token, which may consist of a horse or even any small personal possession of the man's, once accepted makes the engagement binding for all time. If broken by either party something like a breach of promise case is the result. Any time before the marriage, property (generally in the shape of stock) is paid by the suitor to the parents as the purchase price of his bride. The value of this property varies among different tribes and for different women. If before marriage a girl dies, her relations must return the purchase price paid, which is called yarad. Should the man die his next of kin may marry the girl on making a small further payment. Should she refuse this alliance another must be found to take her place, or the yarad be returned to the deceased's estate.
For Iranians marriage is considered to be an event, which must be celebrated not quietly but with glory and distinction. It is the most conspicuous of all the rituals and must be celebrated in the presence of an assembly, which can bear witness to the event.
ceremony, to bring the new couple happiness and prosperity.
During the reading of the marriage contract, all the unmarried ladies are asked to leave the room. There exists the belief that a girl should only hear the marriage ceremony's readings for her own marriage or her chances for marriage might be ill-fated! Nowadays the single ladies do not seem to be too worried about finding a husband and getting married, because most of them stay in the room to witness the ceremony.
