Social Organization of Madagascar:
"Malagasy" is the official name of Madagascar's social make-up and traditions. It is what their language is referred to by the Madagascar citizens. The citizens in Madagascar are referred to as either "Malagasy" (more common) or "Madagasikara". There are few social classes that are much like the normal socialized classes in this country, of which includes a small "elite class" (upper class, usually wealthy and powerful), a small "bourgeois class" (middle class citizen), and a large "lower class" population (poor, unhealthy and uneducated citizens). The Malagasy stick to traditional customs overall. Attire in Madagascar can vary based on the social group of a person. Those in the "lower class" wear normal Malagasy clothes. The men wear an oversized shirt with shorts or long pants, and the women wear a cloth dress with a gathered skirt. As seen by the larger lower class population proceeded by these type of living attires and lack of freshwater, it is shown that the Republic of Madagascar is a poorer country overall.
"Malagasy" is the official name of Madagascar's social make-up and traditions. It is what their language is referred to by the Madagascar citizens. The citizens in Madagascar are referred to as either "Malagasy" (more common) or "Madagasikara". There are few social classes that are much like the normal socialized classes in this country, of which includes a small "elite class" (upper class, usually wealthy and powerful), a small "bourgeois class" (middle class citizen), and a large "lower class" population (poor, unhealthy and uneducated citizens). The Malagasy stick to traditional customs overall. Attire in Madagascar can vary based on the social group of a person. Those in the "lower class" wear normal Malagasy clothes. The men wear an oversized shirt with shorts or long pants, and the women wear a cloth dress with a gathered skirt. As seen by the larger lower class population proceeded by these type of living attires and lack of freshwater, it is shown that the Republic of Madagascar is a poorer country overall.
Customs & Traditions of the Malagasy |
One popular custom in Madagascar is to have your loved ones buried in a tomb. Tombs are valued so much in the Malagasy culture that they sometimes spend more on their loved ones tombs than they do on their own household. It is custom to bury an individual in a tomb that is located closest to where they lived. (It is rare to live in more than one spot in your lifetime.) Once the bones in the tomb become old enough, they are taken out of their original tomb, wrapped in new shrouds, and placed in an ancestral tomb. Ancestral tombs are considered "sacred" in the Malagasy culture, especially the royal ancestral tombs. The dead are believed to have power to affect the living, their future and fate, which is why the Malagasy treat the dead like they are sacred. It is custom for the dead ancestors of a Malagasy family to be entrusted in and influencing their every day lives.
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Just to pay respects to the dead, the Malagasy makes offerings to the dead on a day-to-day basis. Ex: pouring the first cap-full of rum into the north-eastern corner of the room. Things such as this show that the Malagasy value the dead more than anything else in their culture or custom everyday living styles, which is why this was shown as one of the main customs & traditions.
Arts & Literature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyday life in Madagascar include entertainment such as folk music (which is valued highly in this country) or films. It is also of value to watch movies in Madagascar because the Malagasy people actually speak Malagasy (a form of Austronesian languages) and so films are rarely translated to their language or subtitled. Madagascar is not only undeveloped, but it is also poor, so the government and people cannot afford many sources of entertainment. This is what the Malagasy depend on for daily entertainment, and it's only one of the many types of arts that are valued and distributed throughout Madagascar. Other arts include |
wood-carvings, forms of stone-painting, and making ornamental clothes. Those wood-works are some of the most beautiful sites to see in that country. It all ties back to he artwork that is made for the tomb. The "Zafimaniry" is an ethnic group within Madagascar that specially practices in these carvings and paintings. Wood carving is so well known from the country of Madagascar itself, that many people come from around the world just to admire the amazing works of carving and paintings on different tombs. The Malagasy has developed over many years, and now has a whole system of literature that it abides and lives by. Since Malagasy is it's own language, it is now been found in proverbs, poetry, legends and history. The citizens in Madagascar have all mostly switched to this style of living through literature, but some in the southeast arabic manuscripts from over 200 years ago, showing that other cultures are valued in Madagascar as well as Malagasy.