Contact Zone Vs Community Analysis

The idea of a contact zone and a community is distinct from one another, yet they can both be used to define the characteristics of the same group. Mary Louise Pratt believes that communities are often seen as the more dominant viewpoint to the general public but she also argues that we need to develop ways to understand the differences of culture and grasp the idea of transculturation through the contact zone. A single group should always be viewed from both community and contact zone points of view to gain greater perspective and understanding. A community is a place where everyone is more equal and is there for the same reason. The definition of a community is a group of people living in the same place and sharing common interests, goals and characteristics. This provides very little conflicting behaviors and can be beneficial to groups because communities offer individual support, and acceptance from a group of people. Communities provide a utopian society where the members can feel equal and experience the same things. Communities provide a sense of fraternity which is the state or feeling of friendship and mutual support within a group, for example my dormitory floor is a community because as aviation students, we see each other as equals and come together to expand our education in aviation by studying together and making sure we’re all
Pratt emphasizes that, “Our job in the Americas course remains to figure out how to make that crossroads the best sit for learning that it can be. We are looking for the pedagogical arts of the contact zone” (Pratt 497). These shifts of points of view from community to contact zone develops greater understanding, being a part of a community and being aware of an underlying contact zone is ultimately a valuable attribute for a