The Culture in Afghanistan

C. The Culture in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is the land of many ethnic groups, which is why the country has so many different cultures yet they are all call themselves proudly an Afghan. 25 The culture of Afghanistan reflects its ancient roots and position as a crossroads for invading ethnic groups and traditions. The population of Afghanistan includes many different ethnic groups. Afghanistan has been disrupted over the past 25 years by civil wars, invasions, rule of the Taliban, and terrorist activities which have destroyed much of the countrys culture, family and tribal connections, thus creating hundreds of thousands of refugees. As a result, it becomes difficult to discuss Afghanistans culture as many of the traditions and ways of life have been ignored and overturned. However, family and tribal life is resuming, refugees are slowly returning and being resettled, and some of the traditional patterns of life are being re-established. Afghanistans ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia. While population data is somewhat unreliable for 25 h ttp:www.afghan-network.netEthnic-Groups. Accessed on September 7 , 2008. Afghanistan, Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group at 38-44 of the population, followed by Tajiks 25, Hazaras 10, Uzbek 6-8, Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups. Dari Afghan Farsi and Pashto are official languages. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though Pashto is spoken throughout the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Tajik and Turkic languages are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects. Afghanistan is an Islamic country. An estimated 80 of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder of the population- -and primarily the Hazara ethnic group-- predominantly Shia. Despite attempts during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as a principal basis for expressing opposition to communism and the Soviet invasion. Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional tribal and ethnic practices, have an important role in personal conduct and dispute settlement. Afghan society is largely based on kinship groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices, though somewhat less so in urban areas. Afghans display pride in their religion, country, ancestry, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes. As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region. Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the countrys historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars. The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari River valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cloak worn by Muhammad is stored inside the famous Khalka Sharifa in Kandahar City. Buzkashi is a national sport in Afghanistan. It is similar to polo and played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold of a goat carcass. Afghan hounds a type of running dog also originated in Afghanistan. Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Persian culture has, and continues to, exert a great influence over Afghan culture. Private poetry competition events known as “musha’era” are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every home owns one or more poetry collections of some sort, even if they are not read often. The eastern dialects of the Persian language are popularly known as Dari. The name itself derives from Pârsî-e Darbârî, meaning Persian of the royal courts. The ancient term Darî – one of the original names of the Persian language – was revived in the Afghan constitution of 1964, and was intended to signify that Afghans consider their country the cradle of the language. Hence, the name Fârsî, the language of Fârs, is strictly avoided. With this point in mind, we can consider the development of Dari or Persian literature in the political entity known as Afghanistan. Many of the famous Persian poets of the tenth to fifteenth centuries stem from Khorasan where is now known as Afghanistan. They were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages, natural sciences, medicine, religion and astronomy.

CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDING

A. Data Description

In chapter III, having read the novel, the writer finds some statements as the corpus of the research. They are classified into two groups: characters and cultural identities. They are presented in the following tables. 1. The List of Characters in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. No Characters Corpus Remark 1. Amir “He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself.” “ I envied her. Her secret was out...” “ He asked me to fetch Hassan too, but I lied and told him Hassan had the runs. I wanted Baba all to myself.” “… we all had our reason for not adopting. Soraya had hers, the general his, and I had this…” “… how I’d betrayed Hassan...” “… Courage was just one of them.” Liar Stable Envious Stable Obedient Stable Betrayer Stable Coward Unstable