Poems of Thobile Maso
Arts and Culture in the context of economic development
Thobile Maso
At any stage of civilisation, a society must have its own identity and pride. It must have a system which encourages the continuation and propagation of its own excellence in the arts, music and traditional values.
Often we do not associate economic with Arts and Culture, yet the arts and culture are not only part and parcel of the economic rhythm and productivity of society, but directly constitute the corner - stone of any given society. Culture should be an integral part of human existence. Artistic forms of expression must create to depict and comment on the day to day political, economic and social state of affairs in the society. This way the ideas, beliefs and values should be stored and transmitted from generation to generation. This that the artist plays the role of a politician, economist, educationist and an entertainer. The colonialists used culture as a tool to economically dominate the African people and has continued to use media and culture to ensure this continuity
We have to refuse to be come automated robots of Western culture interests which negates the development of African economic and cultural base. There is a need of skills and tactics that should be employed for culture to propel economic growth for the people's benefit.
American cultural imperialism is doing a lot of damage to the younger generations. Sometimes it is painful to see the youths struggle hard to talk like those black American youths they see in the American comedy television programme.
In order to continuously come to terms with ourselves we must express ourselves in activity, therefore culture, although becomes a human second nature, but it remains something quite deferent from nature precisely because it is the product of human activity. Culture must be continuously produced and reproduced by human beings. Culture consists of the totality of the human products, some these are material, others are not. Human produces tools by means of which he/she modifies his/her physical environment and bends nature to his/her will, human also produces language.
Poems of Thobile Maso..........a selection