Otherness comprises a concept that encompasses the "different", that is, people who are part of other cultural spaces, and at the same time it is an idea that makes it possible to establish a distinction between me and you, between us and them, one of the ours and outsiders. We build our personal and collective identity from the recognition of a set of ideas, values and traditions from the family environment, but also from the social environment in which we live.
However, those who are different also participate in the construction of identity, that is, individuals from other cultures. People who are different from one's own environment are others and in this sense we speak of otherness.
We perceive ourselves the same because there are others who are different from us. In everyday language allusions are made in many ways to all those individuals who make up another collective identity (the word foreigner has the same origin as the foreign word, but we also say they or those referring to a group other than ours).
A concept that is part of the philosophical tradition
The idea of otherness has a clear philosophical dimension and has been approached from different perspectives.
Personal self-knowledge implies recognizing the other as different and equally understanding that we are other to others. This mutual recognition reminds us that we live in a plural world in which each individual has their individual perspective.
The idea of otherness helps us to keep in mind that we live in society and are part of a complex whole
In the concept of otherness we can appreciate a certain personal unfolding, since our identity goes beyond ourselves. In other words, it is me and the other at the same time.
Otherness and cultural diversity
If we think of Western culture, it is constructed in opposition to Eastern culture and the same thing happens in the opposite direction. For Real Madrid fans, the others are Barcelona fans and the same thing happens the other way around.
When we go on a trip we are tourists and we become foreigners, but in our daily lives the foreigners are the others. These simple examples serve to emphasize the idea of otherness as a concept that allows us to understand cultural differences and different perspectives.
In some cultural approaches the idea of otherness is deeply rooted (for example, in nationalist positions in politics, in popular folklore or in any localist exaltation, areas in which others become "strange guests").
Photos: iStock - Askold Romanov / KatarzynaBialasiewicz
