The idea of 'the foreigner'

[katelivett]

Julia Kristeva argues that 'the foreigner' in a society provokes interest and fear in the 'natives' of the society, because the foreigner shows to us the ultimate 'foreign-ness' of ourselves. In her book Strangers to Ourselves she says:

To be deprived of parents--is that where freedom starts? Certainly foreigners become intoxicated with

Comments

[michaelgriffith]

I think that is a great insight: the idea of being foreign to ourselves. It does account, as Kristeva says, for so much of our fear of others. In studying David Malouf's Remembering Babylon last semester this was the core issue of society's reaction to Gemmy Fairley. I think it is also at the heart of our fear of Aboriginals in our midst. It is amazing however that some society's seem less plagued by this. I am thinking here of the New Zealanders and their more open-hearted response to the local Maoris. Maybe New-Zealanders have been less traumatized by their own past?????