Western Culture In The Kite Runner

The prolonged conflict and destruction of Afghanistan in recent decades has rendered it difficult for the current generation to fathom the possibility of a progressive and “western” Afghanistan. Yet the city of Kabul in the 1960s was most often times portrayed as just that; a thriving and rapidly modernizing capital which served as Afghanistan’s beacon of Western culture. While this rendition of the city has long been destroyed, the image of a westernizing Kabul could still be found in Dr. William Podlich’s Afghan photo albums. As a member of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Dr. Podlich, along with his wife and his two teenaged daughters, lived in Kabul from 1967-68 during Podlich’s two year tenure …show more content…
Boston University’s Thomas Barfield stated that “during the 1960s, the economic and social development of Afghanistan accelerated at the fastest pace that the country had ever known as it opened itself more to the outside world.” Among the social developments which were occurring throughout the nation, Western culture was being endorsed and pushed by the Kabuli government. For the purpose of this paper, the prevalence of Western culture in Kabul will largely be exemplified through the presence of “Western attire” in comparison to the prevalence of “traditional” Afghan dress in Dr. Podlich’s photos. For men, traditional dress features a turban or a cap, long shirts that hang to the knees, and big-waisted baggy pants. An Afghan male’s choice in pants acts as a tell-tale sign of Westernization due to the urination customs of Afghan men. “[Customarily,] rural Afghan men squat to urinate, asserting that ‘only donkeys piss standing up.’ [Due to the fact that] …pant[s] zippers ride up while squatting, they are viewed as ill designed.” As such, through examining the dress of Kabuli citizens in relation to the place they are in, scores of information could be extracted in regards to the prevalence of Western culture in