COVID-19 AND THE METAMORPHOSIS OF CULTURE: VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY? (Political and philosophical presuppositions)

Résumé

Extremists hold that culture is a pattern of living that cannot be changed in spite of the surrounding changes in the human society. In Africa, most people believe that ancestors will be disrespected if human beings allow any modification in the traditional ways of living and socializing. But a moderate point of view believes that culture is a way of life that admits partial alteration. The amendment in the cultural way of celebrating some traditional ceremonies requires the consensus of those living and the living-dead called ancestors. However, a more accommodating perspective holds that culture is dynamic. That is, a whole way of living of a people can change. The overhauling of culture and the adoption of a new one takes into account the good will of the ancestors for those living in a different time under diverse circumstances. That is way the present researcher thinks that there is need to reflect on how crisis situation like COVID-19 can bring about an automatic adoption of a new way of living: social distancing, wearing of face mask and self-isolation. In the history of humanity, great events have brought about cultural change. This paper considers the preventive hygienic measures to curtail the spread of Corona virus pandemic as emergence of a new culture – COVID-19 and the metamorphosis of culture. The study is interested in knowing whether in a situation of crisis such as COVID-19, if the adoption of a new attitude/mode/style of living or culture is as a result of political legislation or philosophical reflection. Considering the fact that human beings are choice making beings, it looks at the adoption of a new culture in times of pandemic as voluntary or involuntary.