Celebrating our French heritage this weekend, I was reminded about why I enjoy the idea of a global village. From the earliest days, exploring the unknown has led to the discovery of other cultures and languages and this interest in a wider world resulted in the renaissance, international trade, advancement in travel, communication and science and eventually the idea of globalisation.
As per my recent musings about international trade, the Spice Route led to the establishment of the Cape of Good Hope, introducing a new culture and language with contributions from the Dutch who settled here in 1652, the indigenous nations such as the Khoisan, Indonesian and Malay influences from the Far East, French as introduced by the Huguenots from 1671 onwards and English since the British occupation in 1795. The result was a brand-new language, Afrikaans, that celebrates its 100th birthday this year, but also a country that recognises 11 official languages and with it the challenging beauty of cultural diversity.
While it took a lot of effort, financing and courage for our ancestors to explore the world they lived in, their efforts resulted in the concept of a global village and today, we are well informed about the rest of the world, it is relatively easy and affordable to travel compared to those days and we can instantly get in touch with friends, family and colleagues all over the world. Many of us travel for work and family and have become global citizens.
Some of us might, however, have less exposure to different cultures and languages. Exploring the unknown, learning about foreign ideas and embracing different ways might me more attractive to some people, while others might be more comfortable with the familiar. And there is of course nothing wrong with it. It is a good thing to celebrate your own culture and traditions and not having an adventurous spirit or palate are perfectly fine as long as you feel comfortable enough in your own skin and not threatened by the different ways and preferences of others.
In my opinion, exposure to the bigger picture gives insight and empathy and might prevent negative aspects of nationalism. I am all for embracing uniqueness and identity and staying true to what we are, but I don’t think it is necessary to feel insecure and threatened by the beautiful cultures and competitive commerce of other countries. If I look at the political unrest, warfare and trade wars we are dealing with at the moment, it does seem that challenging economic and social conditions are becoming a threat to the idea of us working together across boundaries.
The Franschhoek Bastille Festival is a special weekend for us to remember the customs, recipes and traditions of those first French settlers who came to live in Olifantshoek before it became Franschhoek (French Corner). We invite Francophiles to join the celebrations and while we might get our pronunciation of croissant and au revoir a little wrong, it is hard to image our valley without the French flair that has become intrinsic to our local offering.
I think the concept of a global village is just wonderful. Globalisation should not be at the expense of our own values, traditions and livelihood, but I believe there is much we can learn and benefit from through the integration of economies and societies.