What Does It Mean to Be Guyanese in a Changing Guyana?
Economic and social change raises an important question about what parts of Guyanese identity we carry forward.
What Does It Mean to Be Guyanese in a Changing Guyana?
Guyana is entering a period of rapid change.
New roads, businesses, industries and communities are emerging. People from around the world are arriving to work and invest.
Change can create opportunity, but it can also lead us to think more carefully about identity.
Culture Is More Than Symbols
Being Guyanese cannot be reduced to a flag, a meal or a particular accent.
Our identity has been shaped by generations of people from different backgrounds living together in one country.
It appears in our:
- Food
- Music
- Language
- Humour
- Festivals
- Communities
- Family traditions
These things continue to evolve.
Development Changes Culture Too
Economic development does not happen separately from culture.
The places people live change.
The jobs people perform change.
The businesses surrounding them change.
Even the way communities interact can change.
That does not mean Guyanese culture must remain frozen in time.
Culture has always evolved.
Choosing What We Carry Forward
The real question may be what we choose to preserve while that evolution takes place.
What traditions remain important?
What values should guide the next generation?
What new traditions will emerge?