Mary Louis Pratt

Arts of the Contact Zone was only slightly interesting to me. It is a part of a group of readings that I suppose are used to enlighten the mind to possibilities that most people never consider. That the things they see and hear require more speculation and diligence then when they are first experienced. Don’t take things at face value if you will. Pratts addition to this is directly the language and culture barriers that prevent proper communication.
A contact Zone to Pratt is anywhere two different peoples meet each other. She alludes to the impossibility to write about another culture objectively because of humanity. Because both are human they always impact one another in one way or another. Generally in superiority and inferiority complexes. Pratt uses the example of the Spanish conquest over the Incas. She is using a text written by Guaman Poma to explore this barrier.
Pratt is quick to remind us that the Incan had no system of writing. The letter was written by adapting the “representational repertoire of the invaders.” This is called transculturation. The Incans never had this system before, but found it useful to express their values which could not have been done before.