Obcy, Inny - w dyskursie nauk humanistycznych
The Other in the humanities

Author(s): Małgorzata Karwatowska
Subject(s): Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: the Self; the Other; the Stranger; stereotype;
Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to survey the key works on the cultural opposition between the Self and the Other. This opposition is of central importance for the linguistic picture of the world and underlies the formation of national, religious and professional identities. The identification of the Other brings out one’s own characteristics and tightens in-group bonds. The concept related to the dichotomy of the Self versus the Other is that of the Stranger, which — as some authors claim — does not need to imply the Other. The author draws mainly from the works of the philosophers of dialogue: Martin Buber, Hans‑Georg Gadamer, Franz Rozenzweig, Gabriel Marcel, Ferdinand Ebner, Michail Bachtin, Emmanuel Lévinas, Paul Ricouer and Józef Tischner. She also refers to the important works in sociology, psychology, education, linguistics and literary studies. It turns out that philosophers and sociologists treat the Other and/or the Stranger not only as a threat to the Self but also as a chance for self‑improvement. The observation that the dichotomy of the Self versus the Other involves stereotyping is illustrated here by the discussion of a few established stereotypes functioning in Polish culture: ethnic, gender and occupational. A few points of agreement have been identified in the surveyed works. Firstly, the dichotomy of the Self versus the Other has always been present in human cultures. Secondly, the Other in the linguistic picture of the world alwaysencodes the reality and texts differently, where differently means wrongly as — from the point of view of the Self — the Other is full of anomalies. Thirdly, the categories of the Self and the Other do not have to be totally disconnected. Finally, the awareness of one’s uniqueness combined with the ability of distancing oneself from one’s own culture leads to openness and true dialogue.

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