Mary Louise Pratt: "Arts of the Contact Zone"

          Mary Louise Pratt explains what a contract zone is, and tells about her personal experiences with this zone. It is people from different cultures interacting, and going past the boundary that has been placed between them. She says that it is “the space in which transculturation takes place – where two different cultures meet and inform each other, often in highly asymmetrical ways.” When transculturation takes place, one is able to learn new things, and gain new perspectives on the foreign culture. She explains her own experience with this in a class that she taught that was made up of many different cultures. In this class they discussed their different cultures, learning about different things; this is what she calls a contract zone. 
          I think that the contract zone is most definitely a good thing. It allows people from all different races, religions and cultures to learn about people different than them. This boundary is an important boundary to break especially here in the United States because of its diversity as Thomas Paine says in "Common Sense". He talks about how America is very diverse, therefore cannot have a single mother country. Furthermore, I think that the contract zone is an excellent thing in general, but especially here in America.

Question: Why would someone argue that the contract zone is a bad thing?



No comments:

Post a Comment