georg simmel, strangeness, and the stranger

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Georg Simmel, Strangeness, and the StrangerGeorg Simmel, Strangeness, and the StrangerJörg Heinke, University of Kiel, GermanyIn David Malouf's novels An Imaginary Life, Remembering Babylon and TheConversations at Curlow Creek the phenomenon of strangeness appears in different shapes. One way to understand the concepts of starnger and strangeness is toemploy the sociological approach advanced by Georg Simmel's brief "Essay aboutthe Stranger" ("Exkurs über den Fremden," 1908). He sees the stranger as awanderer who comes today and may stay tomorrow. The attributes of that strangerare his differences of time and place of his origin, his socially not belongingto the host society and also his independence in moving, staying and in his wayof behaviour compared to the rest of society which he enters. If we communicatewith strangers we have - at the same time -- the impression of being close tosomeone from a distance and of being far away from someone who is in ourimmediate environment. While wandering the stranger moves from outside thesociety towards the inside. This opposition of inside and outside is, however,the basis of our conscience.The identity of a human develops along the line of differentiation between theself and everything which is not the self, which is outside. The process ofrecognition of what is 'I' and what is 'Not-I' is influenced by the individualsocialisation. The definition of identity of every 'I' does only occur in theindividual mind. Everyone defines oneself individually while setting the selfinto opposition with every other individual. As it happens individually, it is

not possible to express one's own identity in relation to others completely. The problem of language arises at this point because it can only approximate whatthe individual wants to express and means by it. As the socialisation of everyperson is an individual one and as experiences are gained differently byeveryone and have different impact on people, their way of thinking and theirdefinition of meaning is unique. The only way to learn somebody's thought isthrough his objectivations (i.e. everything we see and hear from people), wecannot know what the real meaning of words is for the other.In that respect we are faced with a fundamental problem: everything we hear andsee from other people -- even in our own society -- is relatively strange andrelatively unknown. All members of society have, however, agreed on a basicmeaning of things. This is important for the continuity of life and social

behaviour because the basic meaning ensures a way of dealing with each other ona common and accepted basis.If there is anything as a collective mind we do not know. There is, however,something we call a collective, cultural or social identity. On a wider scale it refers to the relation of inside and outside as well. Again, duringsocialisation a whole group or society is formed in certain ways of thinking and behaving. Not only language but also the political system, cultural values,moral standards and ethics or the relation between the sexes belong to a set ofpieces which complete a cultural identity. Comparing the own set of values withother societies or minority groups within a society, the similarities among many

produce a feeling of togetherness, they form a 'we-feeling'.The normal behaviour of the inside group of a society is the standard. Everyother behaviour is deviant and can be connoted by the majority as negative. This has to do with expectations of the inside group towards new-comers or immigrants into that group of how they should assimilate. Most of the times, however, it is not the behaviour which shows the inside group who is a stranger or not, butfeatures as colour of the skin, the language, religion etc. Especially behaviour



or customs which are not at all similar to that of the inside group may causesuspicions about socially negative ways of living.The same way as the inside group expects new-comers into the group to behaveaccording to the inside group's rules, there is also an expectation which onegroup generally has about the behaviour of outside-groups. The expectations orpictures of outside-groups can be called stereotypes or prejudices. They existnot only for outside-groups but also for the self-definition of theinside-group, though they are mostly connected with positive values. Thereforestrangeness is not only a social problem of somebody who is new in a group orhas a new experience, it is also a problem of expectations towards other socialentities. Strangeness occurs when the expectations are not met by others. Howsomeone, other than ourselves is classified has to do with how we see ourselves(if we take into consideration that the 'I' defines itself only by contact witheverything which is 'Not-I').If another group has access to resources (in any direction) that we desire, itis automatically a competitor and therefore an outside group. Its behaviour isseen as 'negative'. Depending on the strength or power which the inside-grouphas, there are several patterns of evaluating outside-groups:the outside group is labelled with a deficit which the inside-group actuallyhasthe attributes of the outside-group are perceived as threats which can beintensified by overestimating the outside-groupany non-conformist behaviour of one member of the outside-group is mirrored

onto the whole group; any 'normal' behaviour is seen as an exceptionany misbehaving of the other group is regarded as a moral deficit of the whole group; this may lead to the assumption of the inside-group that outside-groups

generally tend to be criminals or are immature.

The classifications of strangers with stereotypes or prejudices do not developout of itself but have their ground in every socialisation. Their frequent usage -- in everyone -- is the expression of being unsure of oneself in certainsituations because with everything which is strange or new to us we have todefine ourselves anew in the relation to that object of strangeness. To limitthis process of re-defining, comparing and ensuring, we use pre-experienced

incidents and stereotypes to keep up the ability to act. Classifications aresafety mechanisms of the self to avoid the incapacity of action.Stereotyping can become dangerous if we give away our ability to see and judgefor ourselves to people who we think competent to overlook complex situations.If these 'specialists' of perception and interpretation have access to massmedia and also have political motifs of presenting strangeness in a certainlight, this can have fatal effects on a society. The possibilities range frommere helping of understanding to political propaganda. Before turning to aspects of strangeness in David Malouf's novels one question remains to be tackled: howcan strangeness have an effect on our lives? Possible reactions may be thefollowing:isolation from the rest of society,

structuring the foreign space with known patterns,idealising, belittling, barbarianising the unknown environment,total and unconditional assimilation to the new conditions,enforcement of own attitudes onto the others,communication and interaction to create something new.

The requirement for actual interchange lies in the self-assurance of the peopleinvolved; if unsure and bad informed, with little access to information and also little ability to interpret it, groups tend to draw themselves back ontotraditional, inflexible ways of reaction to strangeness. Strangeness becomes a



threat.If people are sure enough of themselves and their identity and have sufficientpossibilities and the ability to handle and interpret information they are theones who can win from experiences with the unknown.The Stranger in Three Novels by David Malouf: IntroductionGeorg Simmel, Strangeness, and the StrangerThe Motif of Strangeness in David Malouf's Works: An Imagined LifeThe Motif of Strangeness in David Malouf's Works: Remembering BabylonThe Motif of Strangeness in David Malouf's Works: Conversations at CurlowCreekNature and Initiation in An Imaginary Life and Remembering BabylonStrangeness and Nature in David Malouf

This document has been adapted by kind permission of the author from the English summary of "The Phenomenon of the Stranger in David Malouf's An Imaginary Life,Remembering Babylon and The Conversations at Curlow Creek," his University ofKiel Master's thesis. You can contact Jörg Heinke [email protected] or visit his personal home page.

georg simmel, strangeness, and the stranger

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