Response to Pratt and Kaplan

In one of my first graduate seminars, a fellow colleague asked me, “does Toni Morrison’s novel represent the whole African American experience?” This question made me uncomfortable for many reasons. The question suggests that there is only one experience, and it dismisses everything that we discussed in the classroom, among other things. I responded by saying “is William Faulkner’s work representative of your experience?” At the time, it seemed like an appropriate response.

After much time and after reading our texts for the week, I see this experience as more of a contact zone experience, one that allowed cultures to really “meet, clash, and grapple with each other” (Pratt 4). In many ways, I was forced to engage a person who wanted to know, I think, more about me, but who did not understand the bigger picture or how to approach the situation. The question falls somewhere between the cultural deficit and the cultural difference realm that was presented to us in our first Contact Zones class.

Moreover, my experience, coupled with the readings, got me thinking more about the need for effective/clear pedagogy and truly engaged learners when ideas about culture, cultural experiences, and people are presented. Pratt says that we should “reconsider the models of community” (5) in a pedagogical sense to reach a contact zone where difference will be understood and praised, and where the context can facilitate discussion from all parties involved. I understand that the zone is supposed to be a space where both identification and difference meet, but it seems that there is always an inherent hierarchy, where someone will always feel isolated or alienated in some way, particularly when a systematic approach is used (one that parrots a system steeped in oppression). I’m not sure if true “cultural mediation” can be accomplished in a “traditional” setting, as Pratt suggests. Similar to my own experience above, some people may just miss the point because “persons are not from a culture; they do culture” (Monroe). So, I think that one must have a genuine interest to really be able to have cross-cultural communication that is meaningful.

The Kaplan piece, “What in the World is Contrastive Rhetoric?” made me think more about the emic/etic fallacies and the photo that was presented to us in class. What both mediums are saying is that poor teaching about culturalism reifies stereotypes and reduces what culture means to groups of people. Kaplan’s piece best exhibits notions of culture presented in our class because it calls for a more practical approach to learning and understanding language. Kaplan alludes to the fact that a teacher must understand multiple histories, in many ways, and ask critical questions in order to best engage all students. He notes “traditional composition teachers have tended to assume that they are addressing a monolingual, monocultural population” (vii). First of all, teachers should not make assumptions about students, period. Having preconceived notions about language and culture are equally bad as well.

What all of the readings bring up is that language and language production are not in a vacuum. There are many symbols and symbol systems which echoes Kenneth Burke’s notion of people as “symbol using animal [s]” (3). Once teachers and students can identify and appreciate difference, moves can be made to grasp the final pedagogical implication, cultural production.

Nerves

I have posted a picture of nerves. There are many different types of nerves and they all help to make body parts work to the best of there ability. I think that this picture represents culture and cultural contact because it shows that culture is made up of many different “nerves” that work together to make a full person. Thus, when people come in contact, they will not see culture (just like one does not physically see nerves). However, people must be invested and genuinely interested in learning about the different parts of a person’s culture. There are many nerves that make a person work, and there are many parts of one’s culture that makes them who they are.

Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969.
Print.

Kaplan, Robert. "Foreword: What in the World Is Contrastive Rhetoric?" Contrastive Rhetoric Revisited and Redefined. Ed. Clayann Gilliam Panetta. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001.

Pratt, Mary Louise. "Arts of the Contact Zone." Reprinted in Ways of Reading. Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petroksy. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.