Arts of Contact Zone: Suffering Degradation publicly, An Autoethnography Essay Example

that degradation ceremonies involve the complete transformation of a person's identity in front of others who condemn them. This implies that the alteration of identities and public denunciation are important aspects of these ceremonies. For example, a person publicly declares themselves as a lower species during such a ceremony, with the main purpose being their destruction. Additionally, in a degradation ceremony, a person is summoned to appear in front of a group where witnesses denounce them, their guilt is pronounced, and further actions are taken.

The utilization of ceremonial elements is employed to effectively degrade individuals, as exemplified in the structured procedures of Juvenile courtrooms. In these courtrooms, offenders are demeaned and labeled as wrongdoers, with the crucial role of the denouncer transforming their identity from that of a respected figure in a larger community to that of a troublemaker. Guaman Poma's writing provides an example illustrating this concept through his discussion of the story of Adam and Eve in early Christianity. According to Poma, both Adam and Eve are expelled by God from the Garden of Eden after denouncing each other and the serpent for their act of disobedience.

The passage discusses how degradation can profoundly change the personalities and identities of Adam and Eve due to an action taken by God. It suggests that degradation often takes the form of a formal ceremony or process, leading to the condemnation of someone and their subsequent experience of a complete transformation in identity. The specific scenario described can be viewed as a public degradation ceremony that has an impact on personal identity. In order to accurately represent and understand this act within cultural and societal perspectives, autoethnography

is identified as the most appropriate method.

The Incident

One day, my friend and I were walking around while dressed entirely in black, which we had selected as our designated color for the occasion. As we rode our bicycles past an elementary school, we noticed the changes that had been made since our last visit.

We were astonished to witness the demolition of the old building and its replacement with new buildings featuring a modern architectural design. While my friend Tom and I observed this from the school's back gate, we noticed that the children playing in the field had spotted us. To our surprise, they started hurling stones at us, initially treating it as a playful activity. In response, we playfully tossed some small stones back at them. However, unbeknownst to us, the situation was escalating and the children began viewing us as strangers whom they couldn't interact with without permission. Their numbers increased and as we ceased our game, stones showered near the previously demolished structure.

This grotesque sight captured the attention of the onlookers. The children shouted and screamed at us, overwhelmed by pain. We were unable to escape on our bicycles and instead endured the pain of being pelted with stones, like a group of thieves. Thankfully, one of the teachers rescued us, but we were unable to take any legal action. We could only nurse our wounds and pains. This was an incredibly degrading experience, as we stared at each other in disbelief. We were victims of innocent children and were left without the ability to take any action.

Analysis

It turns out that Garfunkel's definition strongly applies to the incident that occurred. I experienced

three elements of communicative work firsthand.

In one event, I faced physical attack from innocent kids, negligence from the teacher, and verbal insults from onlookers. This incident undoubtedly left me feeling degraded, as if I had been lowered in rank or debased. To the onlookers, I seemed like a thief or kidnapper attempting to harm children, while the children saw me as a toy to play with. Perhaps the teachers saw me as an idle observer of my surroundings. However, upon reviewing Garfunkel's definition, I realized that my experience did not fully qualify as a degradation ceremony for three reasons. First, the transformation of a person's identity is necessary for a true degradation ceremony: "The person becomes in the eyes of his condemners literally a different and new person…He is not changed, he is reconstituted." While I cannot verify that my identity was completely transformed, it was certainly discredited.

Secondly, there was no ceremony as a degradation ceremony is meant to be formal, structured, planned, and intended to transform someone's identity. The experience was unscripted and unfortunate. Thirdly, there was no one to denounce me. Neither the teacher nor the onlookers can be considered denouncers.

It is because a denouncer has to arrange to be fully invested with the right of speaking in the name of values owed to a group. This was not the case in my experience since a degradation ceremony need prominent figures to declare something in determining someone’s fate. Therefore, Garfunkel rubs of my point of view through his definition to confirm that what happened to me never had basic elements of public degradation ceremony.

Degradation in Public space

I have come to infer that I

hardly went through a degradation ceremony. The necessary conditions were not fulfilled since the event was never intended to transforming my whole identity and a denouncer speaking for the welfare of a group never orchestrated the process of my degradation. Nevertheless, the blank question is, if I did not experience a public degradation, what then did I experience? In the process of connecting the dots, the idea that illuminates in my mind is discrediting of my identity.

Having acquired a distinguishing characteristic that set me apart from those around me, my identity underwent a significant change. This occurrence can be described as a degrading incident, where society perceives someone as belonging to a lower social status, rendering formal ceremonies unnecessary for this perception to take hold. One may question the significance of degradation if it does not result in an immediate or long-term transformation of one's identity. However, I now realize that such humiliating incidents can lead to consequences like mistrust and fear. My personal experience with degradation shattered my understanding of everyday life and forced me to challenge the fundamental assumptions I held about my surroundings. It is crucial to examine power dynamics and control within public spaces, where individuals are treated differently based on their physical attributes – for example, a black man enduring insults from white individuals or a woman facing harassment while walking in public.

Therefore, it is an indisputable fact that people sharing social space possess limited information about each other but are keen observers of gender, size, race, age, and class. Consequently, autoethnography has played a vital role in the representation of ideas within this article. Relating my personal story to

various contact zones enables a clear and accurate delineation of all the facts from different perspectives. In reality, this method holds more promise and fascination as it provides a means of expressing personal experiences while expanding sociological understanding.