[Through strangeness to oneself].

Abstract

"Being strange" as opposed to "being oneself" is part of the thinking in all cultures. Belonging to a given culture is actually defined by ones identity and by "being oneself". Both concepts--"being oneself" or "being strange"--are rational and related constructs. Whatever they are confronted with, for most human beings it is self-evident to differentiate between subject and object, between "being oneself" or "being strange". This explains why thinking often occurs in opposites or polarities, as an either/or. All "being strange" has its origins in one's own self. "Being strange" becomes most obvious when persons, gestalt or cultures strongly deviate from one's own familiar situation. It is part of man's disposition to be cautious, suspicious of and at distance from everything considered strange and different. That explains his xenophobia feelings and actions. Behind this attitude we can always discover one's wish to preserve the familiar beliefs--combined with an uneasiness to give up one's thinking and behaviour that is proven and routine. It is only by reflecting on our own culture and our own inheritance that we have the possibility to come to terms with our own ethnic identity and foreign behavioral patterns. If we do not try to understand other cultures while keeping our own cultural identity, tensions and violent conflicts will inevitably result.