Beyond traditional documentation : Dagoretti Area

Abstract

Culture is commonly known as the way of living practiced by people existing in a similar space, making culture dynamic as it changes with people as a result of the external factors within the space. Due to this cultural dynamism, documenting the tacit cultural knowledge becomes hard if not impossible and if done in a manner that doesn’t capture its constantly changing parts as it fossilizes the cultural tacit knowledge. This study aims to display the importance of cultural resilience against fossilization of knowledge which is brought about by the popular concept of “documenting for  future generations” in comparison to looking at the alternative forms of knowledge that align with the oral communication used to communicate cultural knowledge while going beyond the traditional documentation forms. Lastly, it examines the contribution that various forms of knowledge have had on continuing the legacy of a community and remembering its previous generations. The study was carried out in Dagoretti, Nairobi, Kenya, where a week long ethnographic engagement was carried out by going around the area. This study concludes that fossilization is brought about by a documenting culture that uses forms of knowledge which make it lifeless and skewed. This is the case when using conventional methods to document cultural knowledge which include the authors’ interpretation among other perspectives thus taking away from the intended message. The various forms of knowledge discussed were the outcome, from the study carried out in Dagoretti, they are highlighted to display how words alone cannot communicate the depths of a communities’ cultural dynamism as a means of preserving tacit knowledge.