South+Africa's+Culture


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Hello **...** Hallo **... Sawubona Sanbonani --> __South Africa's Culture __**

South Africa is full of culture. As shown above, language is one of the many parts of South Africa's culture. Since there are 11 different official languages in the country, it can be imagined that these languages bear many different origins. People who speak each one are unique in their own way, yet, together, they make up the country as a whole. There are several other pieces of South African culture that can be addressed.


 * __ART__**
 * The very first artists attempted to depict the country as a "new world" and capture its beauty as accurate[[image:African+Art+visit+Cape+Spirit+Travel.jpg width="280" height="208" align="right"]]ly as possible. However, in the 19th century, artists began to establish a locally rooted art, creating a national identity for the country. Geometric sensibility was also created along with post-impressionism and expressionism.[[image:afro-cuban-fantasy-s.jpg width="283" height="225" align="right"]]
 * When apartheid occurred, "there was a great diversity in South African art, ranging from landscape painting to abstract art, engagements with currents burgeoning in Europe and the United States, to a fiercely local sense of what it meant to be an artist in this country during troubled times" (South African art, n.d.).
 * After World War II, returning soldiers and some immigrants brought more European ideas to South Africa, such as detailed, nuanced and sophisticated style to still lifes, portraits, nudes and landscape paintings. Also, modernist techniques were introduced.


 * __CUISINE__**

A list of typical foods and dishes follows. This information was mentioned in another site, which can be accessed here (Wikipedia).
 * Biltong, a salty dried meat (similar to jerky), although the meat used is often from different types of Antelope or other venison.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bobotie, a dish of Malay descent, is like meatloaf with raisins and with baked egg on top, and is often served with yellow rice, sambals, coconut, banana slices, and chutney.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bunny chow, curry stuffed into a hollowed-out loaf of bread. A bunny chow is called Kota by the locals.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gesmoorde vis, salted cod with potatoes and tomatoes and sometimes served with apricot jam.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hoenderpastei, chicken pie, traditional Afrikaans fare.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Koeksisters come in two forms and are a sweet delicacy. Afrikaans koeksisters are twisted pastries, deep fried and heavily sweetened. Koeksisters found on the Cape Flats are sweet and spicy, shaped like large eggs, and deep-fried.[[image:food_sml.jpg align="right"]]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mealie-bread, a sweet bread baked with sweetcorn.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ostrich is an increasingly popular protein source as it has a low cholesterol content; it is either used in a stew or filleted and grilled.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pampoenkoekies (pumpkin fritters), flour has been supplemented with or replaced by pumpkin or sweet potato.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Potjiekos, a traditional Afrikaans stew made with meat and vegetables and cooked over coals in cast-iron pots.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rusks, a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit eaten after being dunked in tea or coffee; they are either home-baked or shop-bought (with the most popular brand being Ouma Rusks).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Samosa or samoosa, a savoury stuffed Indian.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Umphokoqo, an African salad made of maize meal.


 * __HOLIDAYS__**

From this website (Wikipedia), a list of holidays celebrated in South Africa can be found. They are also listed below.


 * ~ Date ||~ English Name ||
 * January 1 || New Year's Day ||
 * March 21 || Human Rights Day ||
 * The Friday before Easter Sunday || Good Friday ||
 * The Monday following Easter Sunday || Family Day ||
 * April 27 || Freedom Day ||
 * May 1 || Workers' Day ||
 * June 16 || Youth Day ||
 * August 9 || National Women's Day ||
 * September 24 || Heritage Day ||
 * December 16 || Day of Reconciliation ||
 * December 25 || Christmas Day ||
 * December 26 || Day of Goodwill ||


 * __SPORTS__**

The people of South Africa play several different sports. Some of these sports include: running, Australian rules football, canoeing, cricket, cycling, golf, motor sports, rugby, soccer, skydiving and parachuting, tennis, and swimming. Also, a Jukskei is a 200 year old folk sport developed and played in South Africa. For more information on all of these sports, visit the website (Wikipedia) after clicking on the picture below.


 * __MUSIC__**

South African music consists of both popular/jive (YouTube) and folk (YouTube) forms. The pop styles are based on two major sources: Zulu isicathamiya singing and harmonic mbaqanga. There are several different styles that have been popular over the past century. However, since the year 2000, South Africa has seen several new artists who bring the combination of jazz, pop and traditional music along with local hip-hop rhythms and traditional Xhosa sounds.


 * __RELIGION AND BELIEFS__**

While most South Africans profess a religion, their beliefs va<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ry. About 80 percent of all South Africans are Christians, and most are Protestants. More than 8 million South Africans are members of African Independent churches, which have at least 4,000 congregations. The denomination generally holds a combination of traditional African and Protestant beliefs. The other large Protestant denomination, the Dutch Reformed Church, has about 4 million members in several branches (South Africa - Religion, n.d.). Also, there are small populations of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu minorities. The native Black African religion centered guidance from the ancestors, belief in various minor spirits, spiritual modes of healing and seasonal agricultural rites. The drinking of cereal beer and the ritual slaughter of livestock occurred. The most important ceremonies involved rites of the life cycle such as births, initiation, marriage, and funerals (Culture of South Africa - traditional, n.d.). There are several holy places founded by all denominations where shrines are held to honor past leaders or where miracles are believed to have happened. **__TRADITIONS__** **__SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS__** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Society has become much less divided in recent years due to the end of apartheid. Since 1994, people of color <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">have been placed inleading sectors and higher levels of society. Some redistribution of wealth has occurred, with a steady rise in the incomes and assets of black people, while whites have remained at their previous levels. Wealth is still very unevenly distributed by race (Culture of South Africa - traditional, n.d.). Because of the influence of the Europeans, dress and other customs are similar to that of the British. Also, South Africa originally had the expectations of polygyny with the bridal wealth. However, when Christianity was introduced, this changed to making monogamy the norm. **__EDUCATION__** Historically, formal education revolved around children entering into adulthood. This was organized by the parents. However, Christianity has brought along a more Western schooling. This means that the schools have been founded as public and private institutions that educate the students, usually with a religious basis. The effects of apartheid have placed blacks in areas that have limited resources for education. Based on this fact, the rate of illiteracy is high.
 * Marriage is seen as one of the most important and visible ceremonies in South Africa.
 * Whites usually live with their immediate families while black and Indians typically associate with extended families.
 * Traditions revolve around national holidays, which are listed in a section above.[[image:ctc_04_img1007.jpg width="191" height="230" align="right"]]

Resources: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; line-height: normal;">Broadcast Yourself. (n.d.).YouTube. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/ Culture of South Africa - traditional, history, people, clothing, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social, dress, marriage, men, life, immigrants, population, religion, rituals. (n.d.).Countries and Their Cultures. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html Culture of South Africa. (n.d.).Wikipedia. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_South_Africa <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; line-height: normal;">South Africa - Religion. (n.d.).Country Studies. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/52.htm South African art. (n.d.). SouthAfrica.info. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://www.southafrica.info/about/arts/art.htm