You wrote: --->Jim asked that I re-post this since he did not receive it last we= ek. It was originally sent=20 on June 2, I think, and was really two seperate postings. Sorry if t= his is a repeat for some=20 of you. The first post: Jim-- in the post that follows this one, I _will_ respond to your discussio= n prompt, but I=20 wanted to offer these couple of poems as a warning (friendly! :))= =20 about teaching/reading/writing in the contact zone. They come from Wendy= =20 Rose's _Going to War With All My Relations_ (Flagstaff: Entrada Books, 1993)= . Can=20 we think about these as texts and as textual sticks in the ribs to remin= d us of what=20 can/will/might happen when we begin to think about what happens to students (and fellow=20 scholars) when they are asked to enter and engage the contact zone in any form?? =20 Commentary would be welcome!! *Comment on Ethnopoetics and Literacy* for=20 jerome I gradually came to understand that the words on the pages were trapp= ed=20 words. Anyone could learn to decipher the symbols and turn the trapped words= =20 loose again into speech. The ink of the print trapped the thoughts; they c= ould no more get=20 away than a domboo could get out of a pit. -- Modupe,=20 African writer Pick the words =66rom the evening rain with throats exposed, bound and=20 thrown, quickly thrust the spike in bladeside down and turn, now pull it up =66rom the=20 neck and drain them all side by side, guts on the ground, paws in a small=20 pile, everything severed and stripped down to bone. and stripped down to bone. Remake=20 the bodies in different positions-- another with one forefoot lifted; strengthen those dead=20 bones with sticks, puff out that hanging skin with cotton, make the muscles bunch again=20 with clay. Where once they scanned the sky or the ground for hawk shadows, put tiny=20 glass balls or bits of amber. Admire what you have done. Admire what you have=20 done. Re-arrange the figures into a natural scene. Paint the background into jungle or=20 desert, scatter sand or leaves around their claws. Remember how you danced to their=20 beauty, how you caught your breath watching them run, how you moved your=20 head listening to them call to each other to mate in the moonlight. to mate in the=20 moonlight. You make them move with the tip of your finger. with the tip of your=20 finger. You think that now they will live forever. they will live=20 forever. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D *For the Scholar Who Wrote a Book About an American Indian Literary=20 Renaissance* About an American Indian Literary Renaissance* It was winter. We=20 were not loved. We had nothing but our weapons loose and easy. The enemy=20 could be anywhere, was actually everywhere. Our hands were stiff. Our lungs=20 were hot. We carried sacred fire. We camped behind you. You were deaf. So=20 we laughed. behind you. You were deaf. So we laughed. Do you=20 remember when you twisted the wax from your ears and shouted to me, 'You finally=20 speak!' because now you could finally hear? The renaissance, you said, had=20 begun and beads began to sprout around our necks, stones germinated =66rom the backs of=20 our fingers; the drum began in the middle of the night and you said 'The words have=20 broken free =66rom silent stoic throats' and from the pain of forgetting we almost agreed. =20 When you turned around your mouth a great O you finally heard our long and noisy wait. =20 Or was it mosquito squealing in your ear? in your=20 ear? =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D ---->This was the second posting that followed the poems. It is prim= arily a response to=20 Jim=D5s discussion prompt. Could we talk about Mary Louise Pratt's Arts of the Contact Zone? ANYONE WHO=20 NEEDS THEM IF YOU'LL JUST LET ME OR JOHN H. KNOW. > interpretation. >=20 Among many overgeneralizations, perhaps this is one we might discuss = (?). > Does=20 using the term `contact zone' as a way to describe the cultural and READING IN AN=20 EFFOR TO CONTROL INTERPRETATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE=20 IDEOLOGICAL AS WELL AS THE MORE IMMEDIATE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL=20 EFFECTS IT COULD HAVE. IN FA AS WELL AS THE MORE IMMEDIATE SOCIAL=20 AND CULTURAL EFFECTS IT COULD HAVE. IN FACT, MANY OF OUR=20 STUDENTS COMPLAIN THAT WE (AND I MEAN ANY OF US WHO ATTEMPT=20 T TO GET THEM TO RE-READ OR RE-THINK AT ALL) TRY TO DO THE SAME,=20 THAT WE INSIST O ON TEACHING "FEMINISM" OR "MULTICULTURALISM"=20 FOR OURR OWN DARK PURPOSES AND NEE NEED TO "CONTROL". > Does=20 using the term `contact zone' as a way to describe the cultural and > psychological impact=20 of reading devalue in any way the important political > and cultural value of the=20 concept. AS WELL AS THE MORE IMMEDIATE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL=20 EFFECTS IT COULD HAVE. IN ON TEACHING "FEMINISM" OR=20 "MULTICULTURALISM" FOR OURR OWN DARK PURPOSES AND ON=20 TEACHING "FEMINISM" OR "MULTICULTURALISM" FOR OURR OWN DARK=20 PURPOSES AND ON TEACHING "FEMINISM" OR "MULTICULTURALISM" FOR=20 OURR OWN DARK PURPOSES AND ON TEACHING "FEMINISM" OR=20 "MULTICULTURALISM" FOR OUR OWN DARK PURPOSES AND ON TEACHING=20 "FEMINISM" OR "MULTICULTURALISM" FOR OURR OWN DARK PURPOSES=20 AND > and cultural value of the concept. I DON'T THINK THAT USING 'CONTACT=20 ZONE' AS A WAY TO DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF READING IN AMY WAY=20 DEVALUES IT READING IN AMY WAY DEVALUES THE OTHER WAYS THAT=20 THE CONCEPT CAN BE USED. IN FACT, PRATT'S ARTICLE IN _PROFESSION_=20 IS SPECIFICALLY PEDAGOGICAL, ALTHOUGH HER BOOK IS MORE TEXTUAL=20 AND THEORETICAL. I PERSONALLY FIND IT LESS CONFUSING TO TH THINK=20 ABOUT ALL ASPECTS OF MY LIFE AS A CONTACT ZONE, BUT I KNOW THAT=20 CAN BE PR PRETTY TIRING. ANYWAY,FOR ME THE CLASSROOM AS=20 CONTACT ZONE, AND READING AS A S SITE OF AND PARTICIPANT IN A=20 POLITICS AND PRAXIS OF THE CONTACT ZONE SEEMS INC INCREDIBLY=20 USEFUL. THE REAL QUESTION WOULD BE -- HOW CAN WE GET STUDENTS=20 TO BU BUY THE CONCEPT WITHOUT HAVING TO WATER IT DOWN TO SUCH=20 A DEGREE THAT IT IS INS INSULTING? I MEAN, CONTACT ZONE THEORY=20 AND PRACTICE AREN'T JUST A NEWFANGLED KI KIND OF PLURALISTIC=20 MULTICLUTURALISM, WHICH IS WHAT IT MAY END UP SOUNDING LIKE IN=20 A 112 CLASS. BELIEVE ME, I'M NOT POINTING THE FINGER AT ANYONE BUT= =20 MYSELF A AND MY OWN EXPERIENCE HERE -- WHAT I *ABSOLUTELY DO=20 NOT* WANT 112 TO BE IS A GE GENDER/SEXUALITY/ETHNICITY/RACE=20 SMORGASBOARD THAT WE THEORIZE AS=20 REPRESENTATION REPRESENTATIONS OF READING AND CONTACT ZONE=20 UNDERPINNING FOR. > One way to see reading is to see it as a public space,=20 contested > by different bodies of thought (regimes of truth) over lengthy time= periods. >=20 by different bodies of thought (regimes of truth) over lengthy time p= eriods. YES, THIS=20 SEEMS A USEFUL WAY TO CONCEIVE OF READING. > During the 12-14 c. the=20 humanists attempted to seize reading from the > dominicans, moving it to the university=20 where it was enlarged. Today, > reading is being contested at the university by=20 feminism(s) and several > ethnicities. Historically, I have been wondering, if reading is a= =20 series > of methods by which subjectivities are contested, altered, maintain= ed. TODAY=20 IS THE STICKY POINT, I THINK. STUDENTS MAY BE WILLING TO BELIEVE= =20 THAT TRUTH AND THE PART OF "TRUTH-MAKING" THAT READING PLAYS=20 HAVE SHIFTED HISTORICAL HISTORICALLY -- WHAT I THINK MAY BE HARD,=20 AND I'M MOSTLY TRYING TO TROUBLE-SHOO TROUBLE-SHOOT HERE, IS=20 GETTING THEM TO BELIEVE IN THEIR OWN HISTORICITY, IN THE PLITICAL=20 AND SOCIAL AS POINTS ON A CONTIMUUM THAT ISN'T NECESSARILY=20 LINEAR, NOR IS IT PROGRESSIVE (AS IN "GETTING BETTER"). > Of course, I=20 am not asking about reading for content or reading for authorial > intent or for meaning=20 making (I think). But I am wondering about reading as > meaning made, knowledge=20 reified. I am not out to imply that major and ) > and minoritarian discopurses (right all are=20 minoritarian) are not leaky. > Resistance is apparent in the popular, etc. if not the=20 reactive. SPECIFIC KIND OF TEXT (I.E. VISUALLY READING=20 PRINTED/WRITTEN WORDS), WOULD THE DEFINITION OF READING SHIFT=20 OVER THE COURSE OF THE SEMESTER? THE DEFINITION OF TEXT? SEE=20 WHAT I MEAN HERE, ONE MINUTE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT "BOOKS" AND=20 THE NEXT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT READING AND TEXTS IN MORE=20 ABSTRACT WAYS. WE COULD HAVE BOTH I THINK, BUT THAT MIGHT=20 REQUIRE SOME PRETTY FANCY DANCING CURRICULUM-WISE AND I IT=20 MIGHT LIMIT TEACHER'S CHOICES MORE THAN SOME OF US ARE WILLING=20 TO DO. WHAT DO YOU THINK? > Of course, I am not asking about reading for=20 content or reading for authorial > intent or for meaning making (I think). But I am=20 wondering about reading as > meaning made, knowledge reified. I am not out to imply=20 that major and ) > and minoritarian discopurses (right all are minoritarian) are not l= eaky. >=20 Resistance is apparent in the popular, etc. if not the reactive. > A convenient way be to=20 organize a history of reading may be as a series of > contested moments in=20 humanism/feminism/ethnicities in the university. > Humanism here is figured as a civil=20 rights movement with obvious and > important limits. Feminism similarly is configured=20 as a civil rights > movement that critiques humanism and turns to reading the feminine= =20 with new > reading practices. Similarly, the current ethnic production > of knowledge=20 teaches us a further critique of humanism and feminism. > of knowledge teaches us a=20 further critique of humanism and feminism. I'M REMINDED OF ROSE'S POEM HERE,=20 OF THE LINE WHERE SHE SAYS SOMETHING LIKE 'YOU SAY WE FINALLY=20 TALK BECAUSE NOW YOU FINALLY HEAR.' ISN'T THAT WHAT THE=20 AC ACADEMY HAS DONE IN THE PAST 30 YEARS? STARTED LISTENING TO=20 THE CACOPHONY INSTE INSTEAD OF EXPLAINING IT AWAY/ INSTEAD OF=20 EXPLAINING IT AWAY? DO WE HAVE TIME TO SHOW HOW THOSE VOICES=20 WERE IGNORED AND MARGINALIZED BY THE ACADEMY AS WELL AS HOW=20 THEY ARE CURRENTLY ALL T THE RAGE? > I suggest this historical frame=20 (Always historicize.) is one way of overall > course organization that we ought to discuss,=20 critique, and explore so that > it is explored on the list informally or formally as a possible= =20 way for > teachers to orient a course in reading, among other ways of orienti= ng a > course=20 that we make possible by our research and discussions. > It seems to me the narrative=20 construction of such an argument places > its focus on feminism and ethnicities, but=20 historicizes humanism as > a problem under interrogation. The course would include texts=20 that > depict readers reading from multiple registers in these historic > moments,=20 organized chronologically. IF WE WERE TO ORGANIZE SUCH A COURSE, I=20 WOULD AGREE WITH THIS KIND OF STRUCTURE STRUCTURE, BUT I=20 WOULD WANT TO DO THE KIND OF THING THAT I SUGGESTED ABOVE. =20 FO FOR EXAMPLE, COULD WE LOOK AT THE TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE=20 NORTON ANTHOLOGY SI SINCE THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION AND ALSO=20 LOOK AT WHAT "MARGINAL" TEXTS WERE P PUBLISHED, AND OFTEN=20 POPULAR, AT SAME TIME AS THE "CANONICAL" TEXTS AND TRY TO MAYBE=20 TRACE WHERE THE 'MARGINAL" ENTERS THE MAINSTREAM AND WHY --=20 TIMEWISE -- T THAT WOULD HAPPEN. FURTHER, I'D LIKE TO ALSO THINK=20 ABOUT WHY SOME "MINORITY" AU AUTHORS ARE SO POPULAR AND=20 OTHERS ARE STILL IGNORED ACADEMICALLY. > Such an argument could lead=20 students to see a need to diversify their > consciousness, to get a long view of the structure=20 of knowledges at the > university, and to acknowledge the deployment and complication=20 of their > subjectivity. All in relation to the history of reading. > Again, may I repeat, I=20 am not interested in arguing for one way of organizing READ AND THINK AND WRITE=20 THEN YOU'RE ALREADY BEHIND ANYONE WHOSE POLITICAL=20 AND CULTURAL EXISTENCE FORCES THEM TO "LEARN" THE 'WAYS" OF THE=20 MAJORITY/METROPOLIS MAJORITY/METROPOLIS/OPPRESSOR. > Again, may I=20 repeat, I am not interested in arguing for one way of organizing > such a course. I am=20 interested in surveying many models of course > orghanization with those on the list and=20 then excerpting or revising > those discussions in some sort of text for a syllabus=20 guide. > What of the loss of geography in such notion of the contact zone? > What of the=20 loss of geography in such notion of the contact zone? > those discussions in some sort of=20 text for a syllabus guide. > What of the loss of geography in such notion of the contact=20 zone? THEORIZING OF THE CONTACT ZONE. OUR STUDENT'S _HAVE_=20 GEOGRAPHICAL ORIENTATIONS ORIENTATIONS, THEY JUST ARE (FOR THE=20 MOST PART) THE SAME ORIENTATIONS. GEOGRAPH GEOGRAPHICAL=20 SAMENESS IS AS IMPORTANT (I THINK) AS GEPGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCE.=20 ALT ALTHOUGH SPACE IS A TOUGH ONE HERE. WE WOULD BE ASKING=20 STUDENTS TO INHABIT A S SPACE THAT THEY SIMPLY CANNOT "SEE" OR=20 "FEEL" (AND I'M NOT BEING CONDESCENDING HERE). IT'S THE SPACE=20 THAT'S IMPORTANT -- THE CONTACT ZONE IS A SPACE, WHERE=20 CU CULTURES MEET AND CLASH, OFTEN WITH RADICALLY DIFFERENT=20 AMOUNTS OF SOCIAL AND P POLITICAL POWER. THE ONLY PLACE THAT=20 THE SPACE WOULD BE 'REAL" WOULD BE IN THE REPRESENTATIONS OF=20 READING (THE TEXTS) USED IN THE COURSE -- SINCE MIAMI IS=20 SO HOMOGENOUS, ANY OTHER KIND OF CONTACT ZONE WOULD BE=20 PRETTY ELUSIVE, UNLESS IT W WAS BETWEEN THE STUDENTS AND THE=20 TEACHER (WHICH IS USUALLY THE CASE FOR ME -- I I'M THE ODDITY THAT=20 THEY MUST CONTACT, WHICH IS HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC=20 CONSIDERING THE POWER DYNAMICS AND THE WAY THAT THIS=20 PARTICULAR "CONTACT" GETS INTERPRETED ON THE PART OF MY=20 STUDENTS), SO AGAIN, WE WOULD BE CONSTRUCTING A SYLLABUS=20 THAT SPEAKS TO WHITE TEACHERS TEACHING WHITE STUDENTS -- HOW=20 WOULD A CONTACT ZONE CU CURRICULUM, ORGANIZED IN THE WAY=20 THAT YOU SUGGEST HERE (AND THAT I, FOR THE REC RECORD, DO NOT=20 DISAGREE WITH) WORK FOR NON-WHITE TEACHERS AND NON-WHITE=20 STUDENT STUDENTS, OR EVEN FOR WOMEN TEACHERS OR NON- HETEROSEXUALS? WE COME DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO EXOTICIZING THE=20 OTHER HER -- SOMETHING THAT PRATT'S BOOK TALKS ABOUT A AND THAT=20 HER ARTICLE DOESN'T REALLY PROBLEMATIZE. > What of other ways to talk=20 about reading as a contact zone > What about other ways to organize a course on=20 reading? > What about this way of organizing a course on reading? I'M STILL=20 THINKING ABOUT THAT, AND THAT AND THAT. DECERTEAU TALKS ABOUT=20 CONSUM CONSUMPTION IN THIS BOOK I'M READING (_PRACTICE OF=20 EVERYDAY LIFE_) -- AND HE TA TALKS ABOUT TWO KINDS OF=20 CONSUMPTION, ONE IN WHICH THE PERSON CONSUMES THE THIN THING=20 IN ORDER TO BECOME THE THING, AND ANOTHER IN WHICH THE PERSON=20 CONSUMES TH THE THING IN ORDER TO MAKE THE THING LIKE THE=20 PERSON -- HE CALLS THEM ASSIMILAT ASSIMILATION AND=20 APPROPRIATION. BOTH ARE PROBLEMATIC, BOTH COULD BE COLONIAL=20 D DEPENDING ON WHICH YOU ARE -- THE PERSON OR THE THING. NEITHER=20 ACCOUNT FOR RESI RESISTANCE (ALTHOUGH HE DOES CLAIM A=20 SUBVERSIVE FUNCTION TO BOTH, AND I AGREE, BUT WITH=20 RESERVATIONS), NOR MAKE SPACE FOR INTERVENTION ON THE PART OF=20 THE PER PERSON OR THE THING. PERSON OR THE THING. IT WOULD BE=20 HELPFUL FOR ME IF WE MADE SOME SORT OF DECISION ABOUT WHICH OF=20 THES THESE WE ARE AFTER FOR THIS COURSE -- DO WE WANT STUDENTS=20 TO CONSUME THIS COURS COURSE IN ORDER TO BECOME IT? OR, DO WE=20 WANT STUDENTS TO CONSUME THIS COURSE IN ORDER TO CHANGE IT? =20 AM I MAKING ANY SENSE HERE? ANY RESPONSE WOULD BE=20 WELCOME WELCOME. WELCOME. WELCOME. SORRY FOR THE LENGTH OF=20 THE POST -- I'LL SHUT UP NOW. PLEASE ARGUE, AGREE,=20 OR ANYTHING!! ANYTHING!! --MALEA