September 9, 2016 - 11:30
When I first started reading about the contact zone, I immediately thought of it in a negative sense. A contact zone makes me think of fighting and aggression, rather than just a place where cultures are mixed. After our class discussion, I began to think of the contact zone as neutral. If the two sides do not accept each other it will be seen as negative, but if they can live in harmony together, then the relationship is positive. I have experienced many different contact zones throughout my life. I grew up in a very diverse school district, teaching me the importance of learning about other people and their cultures. Over the years it has become part of my nature to accept people for who they are and I am interested to learn about other people’s cultures. I have also learned that a contact zone does not only have to be two different cultures of people colliding; it could be differences in class or even species that set us apart from each other.
As I mentioned in my last essay, I really enjoyed volunteering at a preschool summer camp for at-risk and homeless children in my county. At first, there might not be a clear connection because of our differences in age or class. However, this contact zone is accepting of different people no matter their circumstance and we both learn that a connection can be made. Fortunately, I did not have to go through the hardships that these little kids have to go through, but I can still sympathize and help in other ways. I have a great time hanging out with them, even though we don’t have anything in common. It really touched me when one of the older girls in the camp told me that she remembered me from the previous summer. I of course remembered her, but I was surprised that she remembered me. Once two communities come in contact with each other, the mix of ideas and cultures lasts a long time. As Mary Louise Pratt describes it, a contact zone refers to “social spaces where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power” (34). The power difference between me and the preschoolers is quite obvious, but it does not interfere with our ability to connect in other ways. The relationships I form with them will not be the same as a relationship I would form with a close friend, but it does form a great sense of community. I think that Pratt would agree that there may be a struggle for power, but the connections formed are a mix of cultures and therefore a positive contact zone.
The relationship that I formed with my foster elephant, Shukuru, goes against Pratt’s ideas of a contact zone. She says, “The idea of the contact zone is intended in part to contrast with ideas of community that underlie much of the thinking about language, communication, and culture that gets done in the academy” (37). The elephant organization and I do not have contrasting ideas, but I believe that it is still an example of a contact zone. I joined the organization to help elephants and Shukuru is a part of it because she needed help. Both sides are benefitting from this relationship without having any clashing ideas. When two very different forces come together to accomplish a common goal, their backgrounds and cultures do not matter. All that matters is that they are solving the problem at hand. Another component to this relationship is language. I feel a strong connection to this elephant because of the progress she has made over the years because of my help. At the same time, we have never had any direct communication because I have never travelled to Africa to see her. Even if I had seen her in person we still would not share a common language enabling us to communicate. An elephant’s sense of communication is very different from a human’s, and therefore when these two sides meet, a contact zone is present. I’m sure that if I ever get to meet Shukuru we will find a means of communication, mixing our two cultures. This interaction would be very interesting because one language would not be used to communicate. The connection would probably be visual and physical because me speaking English to her would mean nothing.
Towards the end of Pratt’s article, she begins to talk about her classroom setting. She contemplates, “Are teachers supposed to feel that their teaching has been most successful when they have unified the social world, probably in their own image?” (39). She is getting at the question of how much is she supposed to push her students to explore new ideas and concepts. Of course everyone would feel comfortable is one subject that they know a lot about it discussed and everyone agrees with them, but this not how people learn. They must be pushed out if their comfort zone and be exposed to new ideas. This is how a contact zone is made and from there, new connections can be made with new people as well. When I first volunteered at the preschool three years ago, I was very uncomfortable. It was a major culture shock that I was not mentally prepared for. Even though at first it was hard, I felt very welcomed and that enabled me to open up and accept them into my life. After the first day I was a little skeptical to go back, but then I made myself re-focus and remember why I was going in the first place. These kids needed my help and I wanted to be there for them. After that first day, I never felt awkward or weird there again because they were part of a new community I made and I thought it was really interesting to learn about the lives these kids live. Especially during my second summer there, I talked to the main teachers there and I found out more about the circumstances that many of the kids live in. I knew they had it rough, but I didn’t image it that bad. This new knowledge made me want to find new ways to help because we were no longer in a contact zone, we were part of a new community.