Culture of South Asia
South Asian Culture
In this project, students will write a paper that discusses some cultural, political, and identity (mainly issues) in relation to “South Asian Cultures.” The topic areas are not limited to within any specific subjects; meaning, students can choose any topic and their essays can address any topic area that is related to “South Asian culture.” For instance, South Asian culture, identity, visual art, popular music, and philosophy, etc. as I just mentioned earlier. In this project, students are required to use some reading materials from this course (see the reading materials here) as sources to draw some theories, philosophies, practices, and cultural issues as evidences or examples.
When students write this paper, they will also focus on the following elements:
1.What is the purpose of the essay?
2.Who are the targeted audience/readers?
3.Who is the writer (writer’s situated cultural identity–say where you are from 4.and what you know about the subject/topic)
5.What is the subject or issue?
6.What is the context?
Please cite from the links below and the reading materials I provided: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia, https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-indias-caste-system-195496,
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp,
South Asia is a highly populated area that includes eight countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. South Asia is one of the most diverse parts of the world, and so summarizing their culture in a single lesson is an incredibly difficult task. It’s pretty much the definition of a cultural melting pot. But there are still things we can say about culture in the area, and we can talk about some of the differences between these countries.
The culture of South Asia is completely entwined in language, ethnicity, and religion. There are hundreds of languages, ethnic groups, and many popular religions. These things, along with Western influences, especially from the old British Empire, produce a patchwork of local cultural variations and differences. So, to really understand the culture of South Asia, we first have to look at languages, ethnicity, and religions.
Religion
Religion is a big part of the culture of South Asia. There are many practiced religions: Hindu, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism, especially. All four of these religions were born in South Asia and go back for thousands of years, with connections to ancient civilizations in the area. The religions are separated along national borders. When the British gave India its independence, it was split into two countries: India and Pakistan. India was the area that was mostly Hindu, with some Buddhists, and Pakistan was the region that was mostly Islamic. To this day, over 90% of Pakistanis are Muslim. But this has produced a lot of tension between the two countries.
One of the big cultural patterns in the area is the contrast between egalitarian ideals and caste systems. Egalitarian ideals say that everyone is of equal value, and nobody is born superior to anyone else. The caste system is basically the opposite. The Hindu faith is the reason that, historically, India had a caste system, which gave people a social standing at birth. Some people really hated this caste system, and those people formed the Buddhist faith, which is more egalitarian. And then, there is Islam, which came from the West. Islam is generally egalitarian, like Buddhism.
So, there is a clear cultural distinction between egalitarian Muslim countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Maldives, and Bangladesh, egalitarian Buddhist countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka (though Sri Lanka is more religiously mixed), and Hindu countries like India and Nepal. While the caste system is less strong in India these days, these cultural roots are still there. Their society remains hierarchical, and subordinates tend not to contradict superiors in the workplace.
The various religions have a big impact on how people live. The days they celebrate come from the religions, how patriarchal the country is, and even down to the cuisine: Islam in particular has strict guidelines in what can be eaten and how food can be prepared. Even artists only produce art that aligns with the religious values of the country; artistic free speech that involves going against Islam is frowned upon.
