Contact Zone or Culture Zone?
A Contact zone is the space in which people that are geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish ongoing relations. In other words a Contact zone is basically a clash of cultures. Examples of Contact zones could be school, work, the arcade, the recreation center, and many other places in our world. How we react and adapt to different Contact zones is a measure of stability and success in our society. Have you ever felt like you were an outsider, or maybe somewhere where you weren't sure if you belonged? There are times in everyone's life when they face drastic alterations in their life styles. The way that people would go about telling others about it is in the form of an auto ethnography. Auto ethnographic text is one that, people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them. (Pratt 445). They many times involve two lifestyles that clash and with it one person will either adapt and assimilate into society, or remain an outsider. An ethnographic text is a integral part of the contact zone, which is a social space where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other. They many times involve two lifestyles that clash and
Often times on applications for schooling and employment, only the four basic races in the world; Asian, White, Black, and Hispanic. " Theologians had their shot for hundreds of years. An "auto-ethnography," on the other hand, doesn't offer that opportunity, even if the writer explores her past interactions with a group. Everyone's had his or her shot at defining "race. Whether the segregationist of anti-racist rhetoric will continue to redraw maps in blood, or whether the kindler, gentler supremacist of diversity management will prevail. Contact zones could also be seen in Begley's article regarding the confusion of those who are of mixed race. Why would they want to identify other races? Unless there is a benefit to the white man, they would prefer not to deal with anymore cultural differences than they have to. In their eyes you were to be one race purely. The student would find himself alone, even an outsider, confused on how to conduct him or herself in a new environment. They seemed to have no knowledge or sense of a mix of cultures, genes, and backgrounds. Today's society is still blinded by racism and prejudice and it seems to be slowly creeping towards those of mixed and multiple races. She claims the problems are those of a society that insists on one sex per body and that is uncomfortable with the concept of hermaphrodites. An ethnographic text is a phenomenon of the contact zone, which is, social spaces where cultures, meet clash, and grapple with each other. Using Sharon Begley's article, Pratt might agree that for a minority that their contact zone would be any place outside where they grew up, especially if the place where they originated were one of predominantly the same race. What makes ethnography different from other kinds of research, in my conception, is its push at inter-subjectivity.
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