Exploring the cultural heritage preservation through digitisation: A case study of traditional children's games in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how traditional children’s games could be preserved through digitisation. This study is premised on the contention that modernisation has led to the disappearance of most traditional children’s games. Children no longer play most of these games because they no longer have the access, place and time to do so. In dominant contemporary culture, most children spend their time hooked up in playing modern games using their cellular phones, computers and a vast array of similar or related gadgets. The digital preservation of traditional children’s games seems to be a largely unaddressed topic in scholarship. Instead, much focus is drawn towards the digital preservation of library materials and aspects of tangible cultural heritage. Traditional children’s games were originally preserved through oral tradition, then later through books and various forms of print-works. Preserved in this way, they are largely not accessible to most children. This study was grounded on the Sankofa, Diffusion of Innovation and the Afrocentric socio-ontogenesis theories. This study applied the case study and participatory action research design. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observations and document analysis. The study participants were elders, educators and students from various disciplines and they were selected using the purposive sampling technique. Various ways of preserving games through digitisation such as social media, digital applications (apps) and websites were explored. In addition, barriers to the digitisation of traditional children’s games were identified, and they include the disconnection between the digitised games and the original games, as well as lack of internet connectivity in most rural areas. This study resulted in the development of two new innovations. An app was created for muravharavha and mufuvha games, while a website that hosts ndonde, khadi and mahundwane traditional games was also developed. The study recommends that the digital preservation of traditional children’s games should be robustly pursued through social media, apps and websites. The success of the recommendations is contingent upon the support by stakeholders such as institutions of higher learning, schools, policy makers and rural communities.