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This Is Not Our Culture! Discourse of Nostalgia and Narratives of Health Concerns in Post-Socialist Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2011

Vinay Kamat
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Abstract

Oral accounts of the past play an important role in the construction of cultural memories as they are reconstructed in dynamic social contexts. Based primarily on participant observation in a peri-urban village in Dar es Salaam, and life-history interviews with twenty-five elderly residents, this article focuses on reminiscing and cultural understandings of neo-liberal policies in Tanzania's post-socialist context. The article examines how people use narratives to understand and to give meaning to their individual experiences in the context of broader socio-cultural, economic and political changes. Narrators' oral life-histories and illness narratives reveal the ways in which the transition from Tanzania's unique form of socialism (Ujamaa) to Western-style neo-liberalism has led to the erosion of social cohesion at the community level, disrupted existing social support networks and limited access to healthcare. Participant observation and analysis of discursive data draw attention to the fact that the expression ‘This is not our culture!’ and its attendant sentiment ‘Life is hard!’ have become formulaic pronouncements, especially among poor and socially excluded people. These expressions indicate a loss of community values, and a decrease in respect and deference towards the elderly in the post-socialist era that is inextricably bound up with the hardships engendered by neo-liberal economic policies.

Les récits oraux du passé jouent un rôle important dans la construction des mémoires culturelles telles qu'elles sont reconstruites dans des contextes sociaux dynamiques. Basé principalement sur une observation participante dans un village périurbain de Dar es Salaam et sur des entretiens de récits de vie menés auprès de vingt-quatre résidents âgés, cet article s'intéresse à la réminiscence et aux interprétations culturelles des politiques néolibérales dans le contexte post-socialiste de la Tanzanie. L'article examine la manière dont les personnes utilisent la narration pour comprendre et donner un sens à leurs expériences individuelles dans le contexte de changements socioculturels, économiques et politiques plus larges. Les récits de vie et de maladie oraux des narrateurs révèlent comment la transition d'une forme de socialisme (Ujamaa) propre à la Tanzanie vers un néolibéralisme à l'occidentale a érodé la cohésion sociale au niveau de la communauté, bouleversé les réseaux de soutien social existants et limité l'accès aux soins de santé. L'observation participante et l'analyse de données discursives attirent l'attention sur le fait que l'expression 〈Ce n'est pas notre culture!〉 et le sentiment qui en découle, 〈 La vie est dure! 〉, sont devenus des formules du langage, notamment chez les personnes en situation de pauvreté et d'exclusion sociale. Ces expressions indiquent une perte des valeurs communautaires et une baisse du respect et de la déférence envers les personnes âgées au cours de l'ère post-socialiste inextricablement liée aux conditions de vie difficiles qu'ont engendrées les politiques économiques néolibérales.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , August 2008 , pp. 359 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2008

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