Strangers to Ourselves

by Julia Kristeva

Overview

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.

Julia 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. By considering the legal status of foreigners throughout history, Kristeva offers a different perspective on our own civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231214612
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	02/20/2024
Series:	European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Julia Kristeva is professor emerita of linguistics at the Université de Paris VII. A renowned psychoanalyst, philosopher, and linguist, she has written dozens of books spanning semiotics, political theory, literary criticism, gender and sex, and cultural critique, as well as several novels and autobiographical works, published in English translation by Columbia University Press. Kristeva was the inaugural recipient of the Holberg International Memorial Prize in 2004 “for innovative explorations of questions on the intersection of language, culture, and literature.”

Table of Contents

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...
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

[An] elegant account of the links between subjectivity and heteronomy.

Radical Philosophy

Kristeva’s most accessible book to date, of broad historical scope and deep personal passion. It is also a very wise book

Comparative Literature

[An] elegant account of the links between subjectivity and heteronomy.-- "Radical Philosophy"

Kristeva suggests that the antidote to xenophobia, racism and other weapons against outsiders is to recognize that "the foreigner is within us." [Strangers to Ourselves] demonstrates [Kristeva's] amazing command of history, politics, literature, linguistics, and psychology. . . . [and] argues powerfully for a radical examination of self, beginning with the realization that what is most fearful to us in the stranger may be the very quality we do not want to recognize in ourselves.-- "San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle"

Kristeva's most accessible book to date, of broad historical scope and deep personal passion. It is also a very wise book-- "Comparative Literature"

From the Publisher

[The book] demonstrates her amazing command of history, politics, literature, linguistics, and psychology [and] argues powerfully for a radical examination of self, beginning with the realization that what is most fearful to us in the stranger may be the very quality we do not want to recognize in ourselves.

San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

Kristeva, professor of linguistics and practicing psychoanalyst, investigates the history of foreigners in Europe, dealing with the notion of the country and society not his own--as well as the notion of Artheme Fayard) won the Prix Henri Hertz for 1989. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Kristeva suggests that the antidote to xenophobia, racism and other weapons against outsiders is to recognize that "the foreigner is within us." [The book] demonstrates her amazing command of history, politics, literature, linguistics, and psychology...argues powerfully for a radical examination of self, beginning with the realization that what is most fearful to us in the stranger may be the very quality we do not want to recognize in ourselves. Only through this reconciliation with our estranged self, Kristeva asserts, can we begin to give fair treatment to others.

San Fransisco Examiner-Chronicle