Modern Sport in Independent Tanzania: 'Adapted' Sport and the Process of Modernization
Title:
Modern Sport in Independent Tanzania: 'Adapted' Sport and the Process of Modernization
Author:
Ndee, H. S.
Appeared in:
The international journal of the history of sport
Paging:
Volume 19 (2002) nr. 4 pages 89-113
Year:
2002-12-01
Contents:
There is a consensus among historians of sport that colonial agents introduced sport to Africa both for the natives and for themselves. This article argues that such was the situation when these agents introduced Western sport into what is now Tanzania in the 1920s as part of the package of cultural imperialism and as a medium of socialization, solace and bonding among themselves in distant lands. The article also describes how Tanzanians on the receiving end adopted and adapted Western sport to suit their own needs - policy implementation (both domestic and foreign), cultural identity, promotion of national unity and modernization. It further illustrates that in the long run soccer, for example, became so naturalized that the borrowers feel that it is their game, an expression of their unique national character in which the intrinsic ludic properties of the sport are jumbled together with cultural associations. However, the article asserts that the modernization of Tanzania by adopting in toto the modern sport culture is ambitious. Harmonization between traditional and modern sports cultures is advocated as both cultures offer potential values, which can be expressed in Tanzania's own cultural development. On the whole, sport is pursued and valued not only as an end in itself, but also because it represents a complex of meanings in connection with cultural restoration and modernization. And as the characteristics of the modern sport culture are similar all over the world, this surely will assist the eventual integration of Tanzania into the 'global village of sport'.
Journal description