Arts of the Contact Zone Essay - 1167 Words

Mary Louise Pratt wrote the essay â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone† with the purpose of explaining that society would benefit if people were exposed to and understood the concept of â€Å"contact zones†. She refers to contact zones as social spaces where cultures meet and clash with each other, usually with one culture being dominant over the other. A person living in a contact zone is exposed to two different cultures, two different languages, and as a result is presented with a struggle in each culture to maintain themselves. From being surrounded by several different cultures, people begin to integrate the concept of transculturation—a process in which subordinate cultures evolve by taking things from dominant, more advanced cultures, and make it†¦show more content†¦Within a single culture there are differences based on religion, politics, nationality, race, and ideology that go largely unassumed by its members. This leads to people defining others in ways that are entirely inaccurate. Members of these imagined communities who live without their identities being recognized by the larger majority are very similar to the subordinate, more â€Å"primitive† cultures that exist in the world in the sense that most of the time, they go unacknowledged by larger, more advanced powers. When these subsidiary entities are unable to make themselves known, they simply become easily influenced by higher powers since they tend to become â€Å"a quiescent, ignorant, manipulable electorate† (Pratt, 510). It is vital that these marginalized peoples learn to make themselves heard, for there are many principles and ideas that can be learnt from them. Another relationship Pratt says exists between cultures is the concept of transculturation. Transculturation, she states, is a process in which â€Å"members of subordinated or marginal groups select and invent from materials transmitted by a dominant or metropolitan culture† and tra nsform it to fir their own principles by giving it a cultural makeover (Pratt, 505). But why is it necessary for transculturation to be performed by secondary, inferior cultures? It can be argued that different types of people can learn and adapt things from each other even if the distribution of power between them is unequal. LargerShow MoreRelatedPratt, Arts of the Contact Zone1353 Words   |  6 Pageswas an ordinary thing. Therefore, writing a response to Pratt’s essay in a language that is comprehendible by regular people can be very helpful to those struggling students. In Arts of the Contact Zone Pratt discusses the mix of two different cultures in one area. Where one person is born and lives in a contact zone he/she is surrounded by two different conflicting cultures, and there are two different languages. She also introduces us with a new word autoethnography, which means the way inRead MoreComparing Arts of the Contact Zone and Animism and the Alphabet882 Words   |  4 Pageswith you. In â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone†, Mary Louise Pratt defines contact zones as â€Å"the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.† Both â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone† and David Abram’s â€Å"Animism and the Alphabet† attempt to form an interpretation between the relationship of our natural environment and our everyday lives. According to both the author’s writing, Pratt’s concept of contact zone is useful in helpingRead MoreArts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt999 Words   |  4 PagesThe â€Å"Arts of the Contact Zone†, an article written by Stanford professor Mary Louise Pratt, discusses many different ideas about culture and communication by utilizing what she calls the literate arts. Pratt explains many terms that she believes are beneficial in gaining a further understanding of a literar y piece. Key terms such as, contact zone, autoethnography and transculturation are introduced in her essay. She describes contact zones as â€Å"social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grappleRead More Arts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt Essay575 Words   |  3 PagesArts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Arts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt opened up a whole new concept for our class. The new term â€Å"contact zone† appeared and Pratt defined it as social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, or their aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world today. The idea of the contact zone is intended in part toRead MoreEssay on Arts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt532 Words   |  3 PagesArts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt In the Arts of the Contact Zone, Mary Louise Pratt has tried to explain the concepts of the â€Å"contact zone†, which she referred to as â€Å"the space of colonial encounters†. This social space that she speaks about is a stage where â€Å"disparate cultures meet, clash, and grapple each other, often in highly asymmetrical relations of domination and subordination†. Pratt aims to highlight these relations between the colonizer and the colonized â€Å"in terms ofRead MoreEssay on Arts of the Contact Zone, Mary Louise Pratt1245 Words   |  5 Pagesdelivered a keynote/lecture that revolutionized how people think about their social spaces. She introduced a revolutionary way to think about these social spaces, instead of calling them communities she started calling it the â€Å"contact zone†. According to Pratt a â€Å"contact zone is a place where cultures meet, clash, and grapple† (Pratt 487). While lecturing her fellow colleagues Pratt argues that our idea of community is strongly utopian. She continues to plead her case by saying that societies oftenRead MoreThe Literate Arts: What is the Purpose?1334 Words   |  6 PagesNicholas Crawford English 103 10 September 2014 The Literate Arts: What is the Purpose? As a student I have read several essays, all in different but connecting points of view that explore in depth the diverse ways of education, educating in the literate arts, learning, using the information, and applying it to life. In reading the controversial opinions expressed throughout these essays, the question, â€Å"What are the literate arts good for?† has crossed my mind more than a few times. Four authorsRead More History Of Hopi Indian Potters Essay1268 Words   |  6 PagesPotters Contact zones were described in Mary Louise Pratt’s article Arts of the Contact Zone as being those points in time in which different cultural groups came together. Positive influences between the groups lead to knowledge and understanding, whereas negative influences lead to conflict and miscomprehension. The history of the Hopi Indians is intertwined with the various contact zones between the Hopi Indians and other cultural groups. It is this series of contact zone experiences thatRead MoreMary Louise Pratt Edward Said Essay1151 Words   |  5 Pagesall present very good methods of maintaining ones national identity in their essays. In Mary Louise Pratts essay Arts of the Contact Zone she gives examples of people who are in a contact zone. Contact zones are where people are meeting other cultures, and they have to remember not to lose their own. (this was a run-on so I made it into two senteces)One of the Arts of the contact zone that describes what has happened with t he Palestinians is Transculturation. Good. Transculturation is the combiningRead More The Role of Female African American Sculptors in the Harlem Renaissance1689 Words   |  7 Pagesidea that these women were products of living within a contact zone. As artists began to gain recognition in the artistic world, they continually represented what it meant to be black in America. Personalities and individualism were displayed through their work while simultaneously portraying the political, social, and economic conditions of being black. This idea runs parallel with Mary Louise Pratt’s (1990) definition of a contact zone. She defines it as a term to refer to social spaces where