Look at what's in your house, the food you eat, or your movements and you'll find evidence of culture. Cultural traditions and perspectives have shaped who you are. Learn more about culture and how to protect it.
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Part 1 of 2: Participating in Traditions
Step 1. Study religious traditions
Whether you follow your family religion or your grandparents' religion, studying religion can help you understand their culture. Religion is connected with language, history, and personal behavior; getting to know your religion or family religion can help you understand these other aspects.
Sacred texts and ceremonies can seem confusing if you don't have someone to guide you. Find an expert who is willing to explain the meaning of the religious tradition. In addition, read a copy of the relevant text accompanied by a discussion of the footnotes
Step 2. Speak in the language of your ancestors
If you know someone from the same culture but their mother tongue is different from yours, ask them to teach you. Many linguists and anthropologists argue that language shapes our entire perception of life. Also, if the language is rarely spoken in your environment, no one will be able to understand and listen to you!
Thousands of languages are threatened with extinction. If you know one, teach it to someone else. Share examples of knowledge and perspectives that would be lost if left unchecked. Make recordings and notes of spoken and written languages (if possible), and translate those languages into non-endangered languages
Step 3. Cook a family recipe
It's never too late to cook some recipes from your grandmother's cookbook. Smell and taste have a very close relationship with memory. The next time you beat the dough or try to figure out the right amount of seasoning, you may remember foods from your childhood or holiday celebrations. Just reading recipes will teach you how much ingredients and kitchen utensils have changed. And while some of these recipes may sound familiar, others are more likely to be foods you used to eat or recipes that are a source of family pride.
If you don't have a family recipe, look for old cookbooks on various websites or at flea markets. You can even start writing your own cookbook by jotting down recipes shared by family through word of mouth
Step 4. Spread your technology and culture
Each culture has its own unique types of clothing, music, visual arts, story-telling traditions, and many other unique characteristics. Other group members from your culture will love to teach and talk about their hobbies, work, crafts, and what they do for fun. This may include traditional artwork you see in museums, but cultural material is much broader than that. Even the spoons in the kitchen or the CD/DVD software include cultural artifacts.
Societies with not-so-modern technology are often thought of as stupid or less intelligent, but this is completely wrong. Culture passes down tools adapted to a particular environment, and behind each tool lies a thought developed over several generations. Stonecutting tools are among the oldest cultural objects ever, and rock carving still requires great skill and knowledge
Step 5. Spend time with other community members
The best way to keep your culture alive is to keep it alive. Gather in groups not only on holidays, but also for casual meals, events, or just to chat. Many aspects of culture are difficult to study in books and museums, including etiquette, body language, and a sense of humor.
Think about the types of conversations you often have in your culture, compared to the main culture in the area you live in (or, compare the two different cultures you participate in). Is one culture more energetic or more welcoming than the other? Are statements that are normal in one context considered rude in another? Why do you think it happened? This kind of in-depth analysis can be difficult to solve, but it is close to the core of the cultural experience
Step 6. You can attend or host major events
The immigrant country, tribe, religion, or ethnic group almost certainly celebrates a major holiday or cultural festival. Go to these kinds of events to see a wider cultural perspective. If you don't know what groups are in your area, create your own event.
Part 2 of 2: Recording and Recording Your Culture
Step 1. Select the focus you want
You can record what you learn from your research and your life, however small they may be. What you can't do is write down everything people need to know about a culture, because there's too much to write about. Most people choose just one or two topics:
- Personal history of own life experience, or family.
- Detailed observations of one aspect of culture: cooking, jokes, or other subtopics.
Step 2. Select the desired medium
You can use calligraphy, oral reading of stories, or other traditional mediums to make your cultural recording process seem like a personal cultural experience. Alternatively, you can upload your work on a website, DVD, or other digital form. With this, you can share your cultural stories with people from all over the world.
Step 3. Conduct the interview
Conduct interviews with the person whose history you're about to tell, or an expert on the topic you're writing about. Prepare a list of questions, but let the sources do the talking, even if the topic and storyline are a little off topic. You may learn something you never thought to ask before.
- Do the interview within an hour or two. If the interviewee is willing, return to make an appointment for additional interviews. This way, you can prepare more questions, and give the interviewee a chance to find the document or object he wants to talk about.
- Use a video or voice recorder if the source agrees. Using this kind of tool will help you to get more accurate data than just writing it all down or keeping it in your head.
Step 4. Trace your family tree
Keep track of your family tree with help from other family members, adding on as the process goes on. There may be many branches of the sibling and in-law lineage that you never see the face of. Search for them through family connections or online searches, and they may give you a variety of cultural perspectives that are all new. Government websites and physical archive collections may provide additional information that goes back centuries.
Ask your family for scrapbooks, journals, and other historical records. You may find that someone has started searching for it for you
Step 5. Use your notes to fight for your culture
Minority cultures often find it difficult to pass on cultural traditions. Share stories and cultural notes with young people in your culture, who may not know the richness of their own cultural background. In the face of political difficulties and social challenges, invite several people to participate in cultural discussions and activities. Your research can help many people understand the core values of their culture, and inspire them to maintain and develop it.
Step 6. Accept the changes
Most discourses around cultural inheritance sometimes sound weak. Culture is “endangered” or needs to be “preserved” before it dies. There are real challenges and threats, but don't assume that all change is bad. Culture makes people adapt to the life around them. Life is always changing and culture is always adapting. It all comes back to your choice to choose a life direction that you can be proud of.
