Contact Zones

1316 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Negative effects of imperialism on African cultures

The reader is introduced to a term coined and repeated by Pratt throughout the piece, "contact zones." She uses this term "to refer to 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" (Pratt 584). Contact zones were not necessarily a positive interaction because these social interactions usually came out of ignorance resulting into an obdurate conflict. Dubois The Negro in the United States and Griffith’s The Birth of the Nation, and Pratt’s very own Arts of the Contact Zone correlate through Pratt’s terminology of contact zone, autoethnographic texts, and ethnographic texts. These texts are written in different perspectives but about the contradictory topic of oppression of cultures or misinformaty. Many quandaries have been introduced in the past but neither alone is correct because it is bias. One must incorporate both perspective of history in order to get the real picture.

Mary Louise Pratt discusses in The Arts of the Contact Zone, that the rulers attempt to unify the world in one person’s or group’s perspective. She goes on to talk about how Travel Writing was just based on Europe’s perspective of the rest of the world, and they wanted to produce these essays under their own influences. One essay argues that travel writing “didn’t report on Africa or South America; it produced places that could be thought of as barren, empty, undeveloped, inconceivable, needful of European influences and control, ready to serve European industrial, intellectual, and commercial interests” (Pratt 498). The Europeans thought they had to civilize these plac...

... middle of paper ...

...tic animal would be better than being a slave; at least animals are incapable of feeling emotions.

Pratt discusses how the student Manuel felt this his opinion had no value; the world was shown from only the teacher’s perspective. However, are teachers supposed to feel like it is their duty to “eliminate such things [discourse, parody, resistance, critique] and unify the social world?” (509). Some people believe that unifying all the perspectives into one idea is the best way for a community to get along. For example, teachers have their own language in a classroom setting; the “teacher pupil language”. This particular language “tends to be described almost entirely from the point of view of the teacher and teaching, not from the point of view of pupils and pupiling” (508). If teachers do not recognize something, it does not exist in the world of the student.

Show More
Related

  • Between The World And Me Rhetorical Analysis

    358 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this passage from the novel Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes meaningful, vivid imagery to not only stress the chasm between two dissonant American realities, but to also bolster his clarion for the American people to abolish the slavery of institutional or personal bias against any background. For example, Coates introduces his audience to the idea that the United States is a galaxy, and that the extremes of the "black" and "white" lifestyles in this galaxy are so severe that they can only know of each other through dispatch (Coates 20-21). Although Coates's language is straightforward, it nevertheless challenges his audience to reconsider a status quo that has maintained social division in an unwitting yet ignorant fashion.

    Read More

  • The Arts Of The Contact Zone Summary

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her thought-provoking lecture, “The Arts of the Contact Zone,” Mary Louise Pratt stirs the interest of her readers by raising an important argument. She strings together various anecdotes, from crediting historical authors to speaking about her personal experience, to convey her thoughts that contact zones undermine the ideas generated by society that cause one to believe falsities about the community. In addition, contact zones allow people from different backgrounds to acquire new perspectives of the others’ respective cultures, thus dissipating the ignorance they once held. Therefore, by utilizing and crediting her sources, she effectively delivers her argument about the benefits of contact zones to her audience.

    Read More

  • The Threat of the Mulatto in The Birth of a Nation

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    In D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation the interactions between black and white characters represent Griffith’s view of an appropriate racial construct in America. His ideological construction is white dominance and black subordination. Characters, such as the southern Cameron’s and their house maid, who interact within these boundaries, are portrayed as decent people. Whereas characters who cross the line of racial oppression; such as Austin Stoneman, Gus and Silas Lynch, are portrayed as bad. Both Lynch and Lydia Brown, the mulatto characters, are cast in a very negative light because they confuse the ideological construct the most. The mixing of races puts blacks and whites on a common ground, which, in Griffith’s view, is a big step in the wrong direction. Griffith portrays how the relationship between blacks and whites can be good only if the color line and positions of dominance and subordination are maintained. Through the mulatto characters he illustrates the danger that blurring the color line poses to American society.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dubois's The Marrow Of Tradition

    1829 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many of the issues of the color line are a direct derivative of colonialism in the colonies. On one hand through the idea of the problem of the color line DuBois calls our attention to the uncultured imbalances of authority, capital, opportunity and access between whites and African Americans. It also nurtures Du Bois’ right to argue that the oppressed, of necessity, will rise up in confrontation. Certainly, he anticipated wars of emancipation like the riots in Wilmington more aggressive than the imperialist wars of conquest (which in a way is a direct imitation of the time of colonialism).

    Read More

  • The Cosmopolitan Canopy, W. E. B. Dubois And Elijah Anderson: Book Analysis

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    The city is best known for its large size, population, and diversity of businesses, ideas, and peoples. Various factors, such as the impact of industrialization and the emergence of new technologies, as well as the impact of various social and political movements throughout US history have augmented these three factors, with the scale, population, and diversity of the American city even larger than before. In their respective works The Souls of Black Folk and The Cosmopolitan Canopy, W.E.B. DuBois and Elijah Anderson address the issue of interracial interactions in the city, and their implications on the development of equity and civility. In both The Souls of Black Folk and The Cosmopolitan Canopy, DuBois and Anderson agree that the creation

    Read More

  • The Freethinking Student of Dialogic/Dialectic Learning

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    A student and teacher should be able to openly communicate or discuss the content and/or topic in class. To begin the educating process, one must set the correct tone and setting for it. Education is supposed to be an “experience”. An experience is supposed to engage all that are involved in it. “That every reader, everyone engaged in any teaching or learning practice, explicitly wonders about his or her work as teacher or pupil, in mathematics, history, biology, or grammar classes, is of little importance. That as teacher or pupil in the experience of the critical instruction in content that all explicitly engage a “reading of the world” that would be of a political nature, is not of the highest necessity” (Freire 49). ...

    Read More

  • Nathan Irvin Huggins: Culture And Identity Crisis In The Harlem Renaissance

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    In fact, it is clear to the reader that Huggins makes a concerted effort to bring light to both ethnicities’ perspectives. Huggins even argues that their culture is one and the same, “such a seamless web that it is impossible to calibrate the Negro within it or to ravel him from it” (Huggins, 309). Huggins argument is really brought to life through his use of historical evidence found in influential poetry from the time period. When analyzing why African Americans were having an identity crisis he looked to a common place that African American looked to. Africa was a common identifier among the black community for obvious reasons and was where Authors and Artists looked for inspiration. African American artists adopted the simple black silhouette and angular art found in original African pieces. Authors looked to Africa in their poetry. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, the names of rivers in Africa such as the Euphrates, the Congo and the Nile were all used and then the scene switches to the Mississippi river found in America showing that blacks have “seen”, or experienced both. Huggins looks deeply into Countee Cullen’s Heritage discussing “what is Africa to me?” a common identifier that united black artistry in the Harlem Renaissance, “Africa? A book one thumbs listlessly, till slumber comes” (Countee). The black community craved to be a separate society from white Americans so they were forced to go back to the past to find their heritage, before America and white oppression. Huggins finds an amazing variety of evidence within literature of this time period, exposing the raw feelings and emotion behind this intellectual movement. The connections he makes within these pieces of poetry are accurate and strong, supporting his initial thesis

    Read More

  • Neil Postman

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';

    Read More

  • A Talk to Teachers, by James Baldwin

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... is directed towards schoolteachers and how they need to teach differently, it also points towards the growing of the next generation. It is amazing the thought and compassion behind Baldwin’s works and how much he has put into arguing such a touchy subject. He literally instills fear into his audience to the point where they cannot prevent taking action to change the way they teach. Whether or not someone argues with Baldwin’s argument it is still inevitable that the tension within the essay is creatively and wonderfully done. With Baldwin’s educated status and his persuasive personality his work is beautifully pieced together to create an undeniable force of authority for change in the education system.

    Read More

  • James Baldwin's Stranger in the Village

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Baldwin and his ancestors share this common rage because of the reflections their culture has had on the rest of society, a society consisting of white men who have thrived on using false impressions as a weapon throughout American history. Baldwin gives credit to the fact that no one can be held responsible for what history has unfolded, but he remains restless for an explanation about the perception of his ancestors as people. In Baldwin?s essay, his rage becomes more directed as the ?power of the white man? becomes relevant to the misfortune of the American Negro (Baldwin 131). This misfortune creates a fire of rage within Baldwin and the American Negro. As Baldwin?s American Negro continues to build the fire, the white man builds an invisible wall around himself to avoid confrontation about the actions of his ?forefathers? (Baldwin 131). Baldwin?s anger burns through his other emotions as he writes about the enslavement of his ancestors and gives the reader a shameful illusion of a Negro slave having to explai...

    Read More

  • Naitve Americans In The Contact Zone

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Long before the Europeans set foot on American soil, the American Indians, or rather the Native Americans had been living on this land. Ever since the first Europeans inhabited America there has been a fascination with its land. It’s beautiful scenery and its rich soil made, for the settlers, an attractive place to settle. In the distance the Native Americans (dubbed Indians by the settlers) watched as more and more Europeans came into their homeland. Unfortunately the American government took advantage of the Indians by tricking them into selling their land and forcing them off if they refused; this started to aggravate the Indians because they were constantly being forced off their own land. This cultural phenomenon is what Mary Louise Pratt has termed the “contact zone” which is to refer to the “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 other aftermaths as they are lived out in many parts of the world.” (Pratt 34) I believe what Pratt is referring to is the situation that is created when two completely distinct cultures, which operate on totally different levels, attempt to interact. Each culture brings with them their own values and traditions that the other culture may not entirely understand. This can often lead to confusion, misunderstandings or sometime worse. The meeting of western and Indian cultures created exactly this “contact zone” situation that Pratt defines. The aftermaths of certain situations have been both positive and negative and also have had simultaneously posed a threat while providing opportunities.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Black Awakening by Robert L. Allen

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before entering into the main body of his writing, Allen describes to readers the nature of the “semicolony”, domestic colonialism, and neocolonialism ideas to which he refers to throughout the bulk of his book. Priming the reader for his coming argument, Allen introduces these concepts and how they fit into the white imperialist regime, and how the very nature of this system is designed to exploit the native population (in this case, transplanted native population). He also describes the “illusion” of black political influence, and the ineffectiveness (or for the purposes of the white power structure, extreme effectiveness) of a black “elite”, composed of middle and upper class black Americans.

    Read More

  • Arts of the Contact Zone

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Louise Pratt wrote the essay “Arts of the Contact Zone” with the purpose of explaining that society would benefit if people were exposed to and understood the concept of “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 their own. She also calls to attention the error of assuming that people in a community all speak the same language and all share the same motives and beliefs. Pratt insists that education and society must be reformed in such ways that introduce people to the principles of contact zones in order to gain mutual understanding of each other and acquire new wisdom. In order for this mutual understanding to be achieved, the subordinate cultures that exist need to be able to make their voices heard; this leads to the improvement of society as a whole.

    Read More

  • The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois

    3326 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois is a influential work in African American literature and is an American classic. In this book Dubois proposes that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting "double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others," have become touchstones for thinking about race in America. In addition to these lasting concepts, Souls offers an evaluation of the progress of the races and the possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.

    Read More

  • Arts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Arts of the Contact Zone by Mary Louise Pratt opened up a whole new concept for our class. The new term “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 to contrast with ideas of community that trigger much of the thinking about language, communication, and culture.

    Read More

More about Contact Zones

Open Document