| The doctoral dissertation of which we are presenting the quintessence,deals with"Western Culture’s Contribution to Marriage after Colonization in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC):a study conducted among the Lendu "бālē" people of Ituri province.The study was conducted among the Lendu "бālē" of this province.By western,we mean all the practices,knowledge,beliefs,and habits acquired by members of the country that inherited the Greco-Roman civilization.Thus,this research aimed to gain insight into the changes in marriage experienced by the Lendu "бālē as a result of their contact with Western culture.Formerly,marriage was arranged between family members,including paternal aunts and the fiancee’s father.However,the influence of Western culture in the conception and practice of marriage can be seen especially in the roles that play both Church and the State during the wedding ceremony now.The churches on the one hand through priests and pastors have become important actors in the marriage process.They intervene upstream and downstream of the marriage process.On the other hand,the State,through the registrar’s office,decides whether the marriage is officially recognized.To that end,the objectives of the research were to determine the major influence that the West has implemented on the marriage of the Lendu/бālē people.Afterward,to assess the main reasons for the change or transformation of бālē marriage institution.Finally,to establish the necessary strategies to identify the loans planned by the West so that the Lendu/бālē people keep their culture from mimicry cultural traced on the Western model.To achieve these goals,this doctoral dissertation used the mixed method,which involves the collection and mixing or integration of both quantitative and qualitative data in a study,it highlights important developments and provides an introduction to the use of this design.By using this method,we want to take advantage of the interesting aspects of qualitative analysis as well as the interesting information that quantitative analysis offers us.In this way,we could integrate into our thinking,the requirements of these two methodological aspects to enrich our analysis.In other words,in this work,we capitalize on both qualitative and quantitative approaches assets to overcome their weaknesses.This study used social change theory to explain the problems associated with culture change and marriage-related phenomena.Social Change Theory postulates the existence of certain basic institutions that determine social behavior.Thus,the use of social change theory has allowed us to contribute to the existing knowledge about the influence of Western culture in Africa.It also helps us to reveal some of the hidden truths about the enormous contribution of Western culture in Africa,particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Ituri province,which was our field of study,to discover hidden phenomena and analyze them to describe their impact in the бālē society.Indeed,this research discovered that Western culture has affected Lendu/бālēmarriage in all its aspects and the impact of Western culture on the marriage of the Lendu/бālē people,felt after colonization through the introduction of religious marriage and the registration of the marriage at the registrar’s office with all its consequences.Indeed,before contact with Western culture,dowry goods consisting of cows,hoes,and others the like had real sociological significance but currently,it is the need for lucre that takes over and thereby distorts the бālē marriage.Customary marriage as it currently stands in the Democratic Republic of Congo,in general,and to the Lendu/бālē people,in particular,takes on mercantilist overtones that delay unions and make them increasingly fragile.On the one hand,spouses have enough freedom to choose their partner instead of using the paternal aunt and introducing important cultural traits unknown in the native culture.On the other hand,the abandonment of certain traditional cultural traits related to marriage in favor of borrowings from the West has disrupted the meaning of marriage to the Lendu/бālē people.In terms of change,before contact with the West,parents and family members played a leading role in the marriage of their children,but following contact with Western culture,the role of family members has been eclipsed by the role played by religious and civil authorities.This changes everything,and among the important changes recorded as a result of Western contact with Lendu/бālē culture is the civil registration of marriage at the registrar’s office,the nature of endowments,and the very concept of marriage.The consequences of this sudden change in a marriage made it lose its original meaning and tends to become westernized.Concerning the quantitative results of this study,we can say that the majority of our respondents,35.5%,deplore the fact that the choice of fiances or spouses is no longer the responsibility of both the young man’s paternal aunt and the family but also for the remaining process as boys enjoy their financial independence.This was followed by the remaining 33.5%of respondents who noted and on the other hand,the non-respect of the rules prohibiting sexual intercourse before the marriage.Still others,31%,concluding that the marriage is no longer exogamous.This is when many of our respondents,or 70%,say that parents have lost the power they once had in their children’s marriage.The majority of our respondents,or 53%,argue that love has lost its sense of being because everyone is looking out for their own interests.These are aspects of marriage that have undergone profound changes.The other respondents,or 47%think that is obvious to take into account the introduction of civil registration before marriage,which did not exist before among the бālē people of Ituri province,followed this.By mixing the results of both qualitative and quantitative method,it is clear that the effects of Western culture’s contribution on marriage to the Lendu/бālē people turn out to be negative.This does not mean the absence of the positive aspects but the predominance of the negative over the positive.It must be said that it is positive on certain aspects and negative on others,especially since the spouses have enough human freedom to make their own choice instead of resorting to the paternal aunts.To conclude,this research shows that the dowry in the Democratic Republic of Congo,in general,and to the Lendu/бālē people,in particular,has lost its symbolic value and become an object of economic calculation.As the dowry has become increasingly expensive,it is an obstacle to marriage and one of the reasons for its fragility.The intrusion of clerics and registrars into marriage is displacing the parents and family members of the bride and groom in favor of clerics and registrars.The church has on its societies a real and immediate influence.First,the introduction of both Christianity;religious marriage,and the enrolment at the registrar’s office.Religion based on charity and respect softened its people’s morals.Civil marriage as a legal act of marriage gives the legislator the power to consider dowry as a substantive condition and relegates customary marriage to the background.The changes like the dowry required by the daughter’s family change the conception of matrimony to the Lendu/бālē people. |
