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ALESSANDRO
GHEBREIGZIABIHER |
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The poet, the saint and the
navigator: the novel From the English dictionary: A poet, a person who has the gift of poetic
thought, imagination, and creation, together with eloquence of expression. A
saint, a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence. A navigator, a
person who practices, or is skilled in, navigation. The poet, the saint and the navigator, as often stories do, follows a
question: “If in our country, three persons were born, not one - having
extraordinary qualities since their start of living - their world could be
able to recognize them, in what they are, valorising them and taking care of
their interest and everyone’s those?” In other words, our nation is able to
appreciate its virtues or not? Or nationalist pride comes up just by
some people afraid of a multicultural society, where they already live? Words are very
important, today, and much of relations among unknown persons depends on how
we interpret them. However, to interpret something, we have to be familiar
with. Let’s revise together: Society is 1. an organized group of persons
associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific,
political, patriotic, or other purposes. 2. a body of individuals living as
members of a community; community. 3. the body of human beings generally,
associated or viewed as members of a community: the evolution of human
society. 4. a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale
community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security,
and a national identity for its members: English society. 5. such a system
characterized by its dominant economic class or form: middle-class society;
industrial society. 6. those with whom one has companionship. 7.
companionship; company: to enjoy one's society. 8. the social life of
wealthy, prominent, or fashionable persons.
9. the social
class that comprises such persons. 10. the condition of those living in
companionship with others, or in a community, rather than in isolation. 11.
Biology. a closely integrated group of social organisms of the same species
exhibiting division of labour. 12. Ecclesiastical. an ecclesiastical society.
–adjective 13. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of elegant society: a
society photographer. Now, remembering
that we are talking about our common society, in a general sense, I think that
we could all be easily agree with number 4: a highly structured system of
human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes
protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members.
The multicultural word is composed by multi (a combining form
meaning “many,” “much,” “multiple,” “many times,” “more than one,” “more than
two,” “composed of many like parts,” “in many respects,” used in the
formation of compound words) and cultural (adjective of or pertaining
to culture or cultivation). So, simplifying, we can say that the word multicultural
is an ‘adjective of or pertaining a’ culture made of many cultures.
But what is a culture? Let’s remember: 1. the quality in a person or
society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts,
letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. 2. that which is excellent in the
arts, manners, etc. 3. a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of
a certain nation or period: Greek culture. 4. development or improvement of
the mind by education or training. 5. the behaviours and beliefs
characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth
culture; the drug culture. 6. Anthropology. the sum total of ways of living
built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to
another. 7. Biology: a. the cultivation of micro organisms, as bacteria, or
of tissues, for scientific study, medicinal use, etc. b. the product or
growth resulting from such cultivation. 8. the act or practice of cultivating
the soil; tillage. 9. the raising of plants or animals, esp. with a view to
their improvement. 10. the product or growth resulting from such cultivation.
–verb (used with object) 11. to subject to culture; cultivate. 12. Biology:
a. to grow (micro organisms, tissues, etc.) in or on a controlled or defined
medium. b. to introduce (living material) into a culture medium. In our case,
speaking about a society as a people community, I think we can easily
define the word culture with number one: the quality in a person or society
that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts,
letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. Synthesising, we
have just to put all together: multicultural (pertaining a culture
that is formed by many kind of qualities that arise from
a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners,
scholarly pursuits) society (a highly structured system of human
organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes
protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members). Let’s be absurd:
if right now - as some wish… - we could be able to erase in our country each
person that we define as a stranger (excluding beautiful actresses and
extraordinary soccer players…), who really believes that it could be possible
to identify our society with just one, single culture?! There is something
else, like a sport victory, more talented to make people unified by just one
quality, for example hard pressing, a wonderful dribbling and an astonishing
goal? Soccer triumphs that we may effortlessly forget when Chelsea fights
against Arsenal, Lione versus Paris St. Germaine or Rome versus Lazio… And this happens
because our societies, without the immigrates contamination, are
already multicultural, multisocieties. In other words, a
multiple set of many societies, each one with its traditions and history. I know what you
are thinking. It could follow this common and banal conclusion: we are
divided and individualist people and we feel together just when a sport
conquest arrives. However, if just a moment, we try to see this heterogeneity, typical of our original culture, not more as a trouble, but as an extraordinary value, if we attempt to remember that mixture of different ingredients art produces best works and if we succeed to be conscious of this concept: creativity, like growth, develops when opposites confront themselves. If, finally, we start to understand that is characteristic of humanity nature and of what else around, to be multicoloured and various shapes made, then - maybe - we could begin to instinctively know that our countries may just earn something, increasing the number of diversities that they welcome. Last update: 2006-12-15 Email: sannigheb@tiscali.it |
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