ZIMSEC A Level · Heritage Studies · Form 5
Concepts
- Heritage: the tangible, intangible and natural inheritance a society values and passes on.
- Culture: the shared beliefs, values, practices, language and material products of a people.
- Identity: how individuals and groups define themselves – shaped by family, clan, ethnicity, language, religion, nationality and history.
Theories and debates
- Culture is dynamic: it changes through contact, migration, technology and globalisation.
- Cultural imperialism: dominant cultures (through media, education and religion) can erode local cultures; colonialism attempted to devalue African cultures.
- Decolonisation of knowledge: recovering and valuing African knowledge systems, languages and histories.
- Multiculturalism and national identity: Zimbabwe has many ethnic and linguistic groups; the Constitution recognises 16 official languages.
Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS)
Local knowledge in agriculture (seed selection, rain prediction), medicine, conservation (totems, taboos, sacred forests) and conflict resolution. IKS can complement modern science but needs documentation and protection from exploitation (biopiracy).
Exam tip: Use the concept of culture as dynamic to evaluate claims that globalisation simply “destroys” local culture.
Check yourself
- Distinguish between heritage and culture.
- How many official languages does the Constitution of Zimbabwe recognise?
- Give one example of indigenous knowledge used in conservation.
Show answers
- Culture is a people's whole way of life; heritage is what they value from the past and choose to pass on.
- 16.
- Any one: totems protecting animals, taboos on cutting sacred trees, protected sacred groves and springs.
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