Introduction
Culture is the backbone of a country’s development. It enables us to understand history, preserve tradition and ensure the transmission of values and knowledge. However, faced with the growing influence of Western culture, conveyed by the media and modern technologies, young people in Africa, and Madagascar in particular, are tending to abandon their cultural heritage. This raises a major issue: how can Malagasy cultural identity be preserved in the face of globalisation?
A Growing Identity Crisis
The rise of social networks, screens and foreign lifestyles is overturning traditional social structures. Once passed down from generation to generation, ancestral customs and values are gradually disappearing. The result is a real identity crisis, with young people torn between modernity and tradition. Madagascar, with its cultural and ethnic diversity, could have established itself as a model of heritage preservation, but history, and in particular the legacy of colonisation, has undermined this development. Foreign influence has fragmented society, accentuated divisions and made it difficult to consolidate a strong, unified national identity.
A Worrying Social and Political Impact
This loss of reference points is not confined to the cultural sphere; it is also affecting the country’s social and political cohesion. Communitarianism, although often hidden behind talk of unity, remains a brake on development. The absence of a shared sense of identity weakens governance and limits the country’s ability to mobilise its forces towards a prosperous future. Young people, lacking solid cultural reference points, risk turning away from the fundamental values that ensure a nation’s balance and stability.
Giving Malagasy Culture back its Rightful Place
Yet it is still possible to revive and enhance Madagascar’s cultural identity. It is essential to make young people aware of the richness of their heritage by strengthening educational programmes, artistic initiatives and conservation policies. Culture should not simply be a relic of the past, but a driving force for development and social cohesion. Madagascar’s youth must draw on this heritage to build a future where modernity and tradition coexist harmoniously.
Conclusion
Culture is not just a relic of the past to be displayed in museums, but a lever for development and unity. Madagascar’s youth must be encouraged to draw inspiration from its heritage to build a future where tradition and modernity coexist harmoniously. It’s time to give Madagascar’s cultural identity back the place it deserves.
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