Arts Of The Contact Zone By Ann Pratt

One can be shaped positively or negatively through events that him or her has been through. While people expand their horizons to other cultural

Have you thought of someone’s culture as weird? Have you thought that you are completely different from them? If so, what prompts us to make that assumption. Culture is a very good reason for this. So, to what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world? Culture informs a person on the way others are and the world.

Mary Louise Pratt defined contact zones 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.” A contact zone is a place where two cultures can mesh together. People from different cultures are able to interact with each other through these contact zones. A contact zone allows people to look into cultures other than their own. They can get new ideas by looking into another culture, as well as their own. Contact zones allow you to look at things in a new way. Pratt talks about contact zones being seen more and more today. People may have to look beyond how

There is no doubt that communities and cultures have been exposed to one another over the course of time. This interaction is known as the “middle ground” where different groups come in contact for various reasons either accidentally or purposely. This interaction and mixture of communities has the potential of creating a good or bad relationship between the two different groups, depending on the circumstances and their intentions. The reality is that there is fear towards many different communities which is mostly due to the lack of knowledge and lack of comprehension there is for these groups. Communities and cultures cross borders because they want to create a just society; we continue to live in a world full of unjust treatment, the drive to help others and fight for a fair society explains why communities and cultures cross borders. Crossing over of these communities leads to understanding and

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive” (Mahatma). Our culture identifies who we are and how we behave in social environments and provides us with a foundation in which to live our lives and raise our families. Each individual culture has certain customs and courtesies that are important. Exposure to the cultures of others can be intimidating and can leave a person feeling confused and unsure about how they fit in (Schaefer 60). Culture shock can leave a person feeling out of place in an unfamiliar culture (Schaefer 60). Our diverse societies demand understanding and acceptance of other cultures. Learning and understanding these cultures before being

Some people may experience a culture much more closed off than others. For example in "Where Worlds Collide" By Pico Iyer, "They come out, blinking, into the bleached, forgetful sunshine, in Dodgers caps and Rodeo Drive T-shirts, with maps their cousins have drawn for them" We see the main character experience a very stressful and hectic situation that may seem like an ordinary day to someone else. This is because

Countries are no exception, their course of history and culture created a unique identity for them selves. Their cultures involves; language, values, belief, religions, and norms that identify who we are. This has cause division and struggles between groups or people, which influence our daily lives. Nevertheless, at the same time makes every person or country a unique culture

Culture plays a significant role in defining our identity and worldview. For newcomers, culture is the primary frame that shapes their interaction with other newcomers and with established residents in their new community. This interaction can occur anywhere and

Everyone of us has our own unique culture and religion identification in the world. Also, known by the culture beliefs, behavior patterns, and which group or religion, we represent, but we have to represent each other because of their religion after all we are all human beings first. Also, their are many different variations of cultures living together in the same neighborhood, these days, and representing each other for cultures identity and what we believe in. We need to avoid any misunderstanding there is in the world about any cultures or religion.

Cultural identity plays a huge role in how you go about your daily lives. Being exposed to many cultures

You can learn more about cultures if there’s more diversity. For example, there is a girl in my school that move here from Africa not too long ago. She has done powerpoints to show us about her country and her customs. What they eat, traditions and how they dress. Without diversity we probably would not be able to learn about other cultures and how people our age have experienced their lives in different places.

The “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 literary piece. Key terms such as, contact zone, autoethnography and transculturation are introduced in her essay. She describes contact zones as “social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power”(Pratt 487). The contact zone can be summarized as a space where two groups with different beliefs or ideas intermingle. In the essay, Pratt also describes the literate arts that come out of the contact zone. Literary arts are ways of addressing problems in the contact zone and sometimes make an attempt to resolve the issue that is happening or has happened. Two terms heavily discussed in the essay are autoethnography and transculturation. These are only two of the many literate arts that precipitate out of the contact zone. Pratt defines autoethnography as a “text in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them”(Pratt 487). The culture often takes on those stereotypes in some form of literary work and presents it to the dominant culture often trying to change their views or perspectives. Autoethnography is often used as an effective method

Realizing we have more in common than not, when I meet new people, I look at them as individuals. I take into consideration the concrete, the behavioral and the symbolic for they all have their place in a person being who they are. Yes, I wish others could see and gain understanding for other cultures through my eyes. For example, “it is possible to acquire a new culture by becoming disabled, moving to a new country or region, or by a change in our economic status. When we think of culture this broadly we realize we all belong to many cultures at once” (Community Tool Box, 2013).

“The Contact Zone”, is defined by Mary Louis Pratt as “the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.” Pratt describes what she calls ‘contact zones’ and elaborates on the pros and cons of these cultural interactions. She sees the contact zone as a place that allows people to exchange cultural ideas and break down the dividing cultural borders. When a contact zone is started, people are able to interact on new levels gaining a new perspective because they are able to collaborate with people from foreign cultures. If you are always with people of the same culture as you, you become used to hearing everything from the same perspective. With a

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.