Traditions bind us from the past. They are in the forms of a custom or practice taught by one generation to another. Many traditions are invented for several varied reasons. Some people consider it as part of their culture and some utilize it to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution, practice or belief. Traditions are often presumed to be old age, unchangeable, and deeply significant but with the emergence of cultural evolution and development, it is now less “natural” in nature. Today, everything changes – people, places, and circumstances go along with the radical transformation of the world. But still, people are keeping some of the most treasured elements of the past – and one of these is TRADITIONS.
Modernism, on the other hand is the emergence of a trend of thought that affirms the power of people to make, improve and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation (Weston, 5). To Grifin (3), it means different things and covers different periods in diverse subject areas. The modernization process brought about by globalization and international cooperation speeds up the development of human race. More often than not, modernism is viewed as something directed for the improvement of human life. However, in terms of tradition, modernism is the strongest opponent.
In the short story – This is Lagos, family traditions as well as marriage practices are under attacked by the modernism trend. In here, family traditions are apparent in the beliefs of Mama Eze and Mama Bisi. They give importance to family ties, traditional gender roles, and other practices. They believed in the traditional stage of courtship and marriage. When Soha entered the married life, this is where the problem started. Soha married a man named Ibikunle secretly and without the consent of Mama Eze and her parents in the province. This changed the tradition. Traditionally, when women marry, they seek the blessings and permission of the parents. Women also present their fiancé and meet the entire family. But Soha did otherwise.
Interestingly, the tradition in Lagos that is, Lagos men do not chase women, they snatch them, to some extent is existent in the case of Soha. Mama Eze and Mama Bisi thought that Soha was snatched by Ibikunle and made her his wife. But the fact of the matter is, Soha went with Ibikunle without the influence of others except for herself. In here, the tradition was influenced by the liberal belief of Soha as influenced by Ibikunle – a white man.
Other traditional things are seen in the story such as the Volkswagen and the Kingsway Stores. It has been a fact that Volkswagen is an old car and Kingsway Store is also an old store that has become a part of people’s life in that place. With the rise of modernism, these two things developed and changed into totally different yet improved nature as to compare with the old ones. Surprisingly, some people are going back to the traditional means as seen in the actions of collectors who wants to have Volkswagen cars instead of new car models from General Motor or Ford.
In the short story, it is very imperative to give particular attention to the idea of family tradition. Family traditions are valuable tools for parents and elders to carry out the responsibility of raising children and inculcating into them the social values and ethos. Because families share many qualities of individuals, they also have the capacity to grow, change and adapt (Gambrill 80). Family traditions ensure that the warm and closeness of family bondage will grow. It is very pleasing to see multi-generation families congregating and dealing with problems that are not defined by their races and ethnicity. Maurice Halbwach and Lewis Coser (58-59) added:
“In addition to regulations that are common to a whole society, there exist customs and modes of thinking with each particular family that equally impose—and even more forcibly—their form on the opinions and feelings of their members... Similarly, in the most traditional societies of today, each family has its proper mentality, its memories which it alone commemorates, and its secrets that are revealed only to its members. But these memories, as in the religious traditions of the family of antiquity, consist not only of a series of individual images of the past. They are at the same time models, examples, and elements of teaching. They express the general attitude of the group; they not only reproduce its history but also define its nature and its qualities and weaknesses.”
Today, social scientists agree that effective family traditions promote a sense of identity and a feeling of closeness, sense of security and assurance in today’s fast, hectic, and dynamic world. What are the consequences of family traditions? Primarily, traditions aim to build, maintain and strengthen close family ties among members of the ancestry. Establishing family traditions is a valuable tool to help the family remain a healthy and intact group. It takes perseverance to establish and maintain traditions of the family. A tradition is any activity that is periodically repeated, generally enjoyed, and eagerly anticipated. “Family traditions maintain a sense of timelessness through consistent practice” (Barron). Family traditions are present to serve as bond in order to make a strong and solid foundation of the past, present and future of families. It could be understood that when traditions are put together, they provide a perfect picture of reminiscences with glimpse of the past, memories of today and perhaps even the future generation to come.
However, with modernism, traditions are overly affected. More often than not, people modify traditions so as to go with the flow of changes in time and process that are inherent for human survival. Modernism influences people to revise, reshape and modify existing traditions in order to welcome new body of knowledge and practice. But then again, it is natural to people to go back to where he/she came from, who knows, from modernism – everyone will go back to the things they used to have or do. Besides, it is not harmful to cling to some things that seemed to be right and standard, tested and proven by time and the ages.
It is always within the control of every person to balance his/her position in relation to tradition and modernism. It is good to hold back on the traditions, for we are already sure of its outcome and effects. But it is also good to welcome modernism, for it improves the old-fashioned ways to do things by making it more effective or efficient. Life is just a series of cycles. Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barron, Andrew. ‘Traditions are often better than presents; on Christmas, even a mixer can have the stuff that makes family customs’, The News & Record. December 7, 1996.
Gambrill, Eileen. Social Work Practice: A Critical Thinker's Guide. Mew York: Oxford University Press. 1997.
Griffin, Gabriele (Ed.). Difference in View: Women and Modernism. London: Taylor & Francis. 1994.
Halbwachs, Maurice and Lewis A. Coser. On Collective Memory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 1992.
Weston, Robert. Modernism. London: Phaidon Press. 2001.
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