Upholding Conflict Spaces, Creating Contact Zones: Shop Owners in Fictional Gentrifying Communities – The Cases of Fadi's Bodega in Visitation Street (2013) and Sal's Pizzeria in Do the Right Thing (1989)

Gentrification is often defined through the dichotomy of the gentrifiers and those gentrified. Following such definitions, interactions between the groups could only be conflictual in nature, mirroring global power structures in localized conflict spaces. Applying Mary Louise Pratt’s concept of “contact zones” to (fictional) gentrifying communities however offers a more nuanced perspective that allows productive interactions to take place in those communities. I will discuss the special role of shops upholding conflict spaces and creating contact zones inside their respective fictional gentrifying communities. Such establishments are insofar special as they are privately owned, yet part of the public sphere, reflecting the global power structure that drives gentrification in a localized space. Comparing the shopkeepers Sal from Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989) and Fadi from Ivy Pochoda’s Visitation Street (2013), I will analyze how their interactions shape their respective shops as spaces in between conflict spaces and contact zones. I will show how the shop owners are introduced as outsiders but contribute to the communities at the same time, while still upholding their economic interests. Finally, I will discuss the need for representation in these privately owned, yet public spaces in the fictional gentrifying communities.