Response Paper

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Response paper: arts of the contact zone
Pratt describes the contact zone as a meeting point of two diverse cultures. This includes people from different cultural backgrounds, speaking different languages and communicating differently. It is at the contact zone where ideas are exchanged and messages passed. An individual`s culture directly affects their perception of the world and how one communicates what they know. Pratt uses the example of Guaman Poma`s New Chronicle and Good Government in an attempt to demystify the contact zone. In this letter which never reached its destination, Pratt analyses two different worlds and two different cultures of the Andeans and the Spaniards. It is ascertained that the contact zone is affected by power and authority and gender. In addition, Pratt analyses a classroom as a contact zone. In this situation the teacher is knowledgeable and superior while the students are inferior. The teacher is depicted as powerful while the students need to be taught ideas and concepts. Contact zones in this case come about when the teacher and student engage in a conflict of ideas.
It is tru...