Strangers to ourselves
- New York, NY : Columbia University Press, 1991
- ix, 230 pages ; 23 cm
- European perspectives .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1 Toccata and Fugue for the Foreigner 2 The Greeks Among Barbarians, Suppliants, and Metics 3 The Chosen People and the Choice of Foreignness 4 Paul and Augustine: The Therapeutics of Exile and Pilgrimage 5 By What Right are Are You a Foreigner? 6 The Renaissance, ""So Shapeless and Diverse in Composition"" 7 On Foreigners and the Enlightenment 8 Might Not Universality Be... Our Own Foreignness? 9 In Practice...Index
This book is concerned with the notion of the ""stranger"" -the foreigner, outsider, or alien in a country and society not their own- as well as the notion of strangeness within the self -a person's deep sense of being, as distinct from outside appearance and their conscious idea of self. Kristeva begins with the personal and moves outward by examining world literature and philosophy. She discusses the foreigner in Greek tragedy, in the Bible, and in the literature of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and the twentieth century. She discusses the legal status of foreigners throughout history, gaining perspective on our own civilization. Her insights into the problems of nationality, particularly in France are more timely and relevant in an increasingly integrated and fractious world."
Original in French Translation of: Etrangers a nous-memes.
9780231071574
Alienation (Social psychology) Alienation (Social psychology) in literature Assimilation (Sociology) Assimilation (Sociology) in literature