What is contact zone geography?

What is contact zone geography?

Contact zones are geographic regions where distinct populations, species, or communities meet (Fig. Such interactions include competition for resources or space, interbreeding (hybridization) among lineages or closely related species, and transfer of parasites, pathogens and other materials.

What is meant by contact zone?

Abstract. Mary Louise Pratt used the term “contact zones” to describe those 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”.

Why are contact zones important?

Contact zones help folks identify places for interactions between groups that can be meaningful encounters. From social psychology we know that increased contact between ethnic groups—so long as it is mediated and power relations are minimized—can reduce tension and prejudice.

How is a museum a contact zone?

In 1997 Professor James Clifford proposed the idea of ‘museums as contact zones’ where different cultures come into contact and collaborate in attempt to create a museum environment conducive to discussion and understanding.

What is the contact zone Pratt?

Because I’m an academic I’d like to introduce a concept coined by Mary Louise Pratt called “contact zones” which are “social spaces where culture meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power, such as colonialism, slavery, of their aftermaths as they are lived out …

What are the arts of the contact zone?

autoethnography, transculturation, critique, collaboration, bilingualism, mediation, parody, denunciation, imaginary dialogue, vernacular expression–these are some of the literate arts of the contact zone.

What is Transculturation Pratt?

According to Pratt, “Ethnographers have used the term ‘transculturation’ to describe processes whereby members of subordinated or marginal groups select and invent from materials transmitted by a dominant or metropolitan culture.

What is a contact zone James Clifford?

Professor James Clifford proposed the idea of ‘museums as contact zones’. The term ‘contact zone’ comes from the writing of Mary Lousie Pratt, and refers to the space of colonial encounters. Professor Clifford uses this term to rethink the museum’s role in relation to other cultures.

When was arts of the contact zone published?

1991
In a 1991 keynote address to the Modern Language Association titled “Arts of the Contact Zone,” Mary Louise Pratt introduced the concept of “the contact zone.” She articulated, “I use this term to refer to social spaces where cultures meet, clash and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical …

What is the definition of Transculturation in geography?

: a process of cultural transformation marked by the influx of new culture elements and the loss or alteration of existing ones — compare acculturation.

What is Transculturation and why is it significant?

Transculturation is when a society changes because of the influence of new cultural traditions and beliefs. These beliefs can either supersede or modify the existing cultural practices of a group of people.

What does Pratt mean by imagined communities?

Imagined Communities and Language Imagined communities: “Languages were seen as living in “speech communities,” and these tended to be theorized as discrete, self-defined, coherent entities, held together by a homogeneous competence or grammar shared identically and equally among all the members.