Sayeed Ovi :
What stimulates a society and culture towards change? Is contemporary Bangladesh a fresh boiling ground of cultural conversion? If it is, then why so? Our thoughts are convulsed everyday more or less by these fundamental sociological problems. In fact, we Bengalis are experiencing a swift social change-traditional to modern and rural to urban-from the previous two decades.
Some changes are generating public discontents and debates, such as so-called “Westernization” of traditional Bengali practices; and some changes in the meantime have facilitated our day-to-day lives, such as development of new communication system accompanied by digitization, both public and private spheres of our lives. Culture is the thought process designed and given by a society to its inhabitants. Therefore, to evaluate the cultural change in Bangladesh, a discussion must be posited from an unorthodox standpoint.
Culture encircles each part of an individual’s life. Although culture is significant for any society and social beings, it is true that cultural change is inexorable. Culture itself mutates to survive, and when it fails to do so, it dies. Some often this demise is natural due to internal issues, and oftentimes involuntary because of external influences. The transition and transformation process of a living culture is gradual and smooth, but often rapid and inconsistent.
The Sociobiology theorizes that every culture has the same fundamental characteristics: mourn in death, joy in birth, bless in achievement, etc. Culture changes internally and externally.
The change is highly based on agents and social phenomenon like invention, discovery, discussion, adaptation, revolution, communication, war, migration, forced imposition, etc.
Suppose a native scientist invents a new and easier way of producing crops that transfigures the traditional and tedious of way cultivation. Very soon, the society will reap the benefits from this invention; thereafter it must reshape the way of people’s living as well as other existing professions there. This is how culture can be changed internally.
When native culture come into the contact of an alien culture, give-and-take take place. This, as an external cause, often leads toward cultural modification. External change is rather complex, often arouse discontents among a group of people; but it is essential for a culture to interact with other cultures, and exchange cultural traits-derive some from others, and diffuse some to others.
Culture is information that is easily transmittable through the forms of human interaction. No other media but digital communication system for the first time in Bangladesh has provided its users with its immense scopes to exchange and learn (culture). With these new arrived digital technologies, Bangladesh people are more engaged in cultural communication than ever.
Communication is the transmission of information, and information is the carrier of culture: cultural ideas and ideals. Where information exchange is abundant, change is inescapable. The flow of information brings alien culture to us; and after weighing up, some trends we pick and practice, some we dislike and eschew.
Bangladesh is in an absolute journey of economic development, social mobilization, and political stabilization from the preceding decade. Every industrializing nation-state must go through such transition period at least once in its lifetime and must endure several transmutations of social phenomenon. Of them, one is “cultural transformation” which is seemingly inevitable in Bangladesh context.
Exchange is a fundamental tendency of people living in a society. As people are the carrier of culture, so every exchange between individuals is the exchange of culture-local, national, or global. The reciprocity between Bangladesh urban and rural community is frequent, subsequently cultural exchange is going on, which is metamorphosing traditional Bengali culture preserved in rural Bangladesh for decades.
The growing populism and traditionalism in of Bangladesh tend to focus cultural change designating it as “aggression” to incite public opinion, and often to satisfy their veiled desire. It is a malpractice, and a failure of reading cultural change amply. Diffusion and adaptation of culture enriches a community. If cultural diffusion would not work, we will be deprived from thousands of benefits and wonders of the world.
Obviously, nothing in this world has solely the bright side but has a dark one. Hitherto, every culture is a sum of good and bad, so does ours. To taste sweetness, some bitterness too needs to be endured.
The cultural transition period always cannot be so smooth and pleasing, which sometimes arouse discontents among population. Often the demerits of adapted culture harm the society. Hence, it is wise to consider what culture we are consuming and what could be the possible outcome while allowing alien culture to play effective role within our very own boundary.
(Sayeed Ovi is a Digital Sociologist. He is currently working as an Executive Editor in Advanced Services for the People’s Economy, Culture and Technology (ASPECT) Trust. He can be reached at [email protected])
