L’altro siamo noi Abetini M, Cecchetto G, Mazza L. – Liceo Scientifico A. Einstein – AS 2014/2015

Table of Contents 1.Working Method 2.Definition of “Altro” 3.Other Etymologies 4.Diversity and Fear 5.The Listening 6.The Dialogue

Working Method Look at the texts and documents given by teachers; Autonomous research on the net of additional contents (texts and images); Work partition; Preparatory draft as a plan for the presentation; Final presentation

Definition of “Altro” From Latin alter, ( = other) (sometimes reinforced with ben or tutto): In a comparison, the second term is introduced with: da, rispetto, a, che; it is sometimes postponed to underline difference: “una cultura altra” Indicates someone or something other, different from something else which is referring to directly or indirectly.

Other Etymologies Estraneo  Estran-io: Freud’s unheimlich  sentiment of anguish that reveals itself once something is percepted at the same time familiar and “foreign” Relazione con l’altro  multiple determinations of “I”  contributes to define the borders of one’s identity  Altro da sé Conception of the other through Jabès: The other has always lived in me  I and the Other are the same person  “L’uomo è indigeno e straniero”: 1.indigeno  from Latin indigenum, native of the place where he lives 2.straniero  from Latin extraneum, extraneous, also intended as “enemy” Extracomunitario  underlines the exclusion from the community of European Union

Diversity and Fear Existence of opposite feelings, human attitude to exclude everything different according to culture, moral, religion or customs: when you look at the Other only through the lens of your our culture, it is easy to produce misunderstandings or mature intolerance. Claude Lévi-Strauss: “L’etnocentrismo è positivo se significa non mettere da parte la propria storia e la propria cultura, ma è negativo se tale cultura è assolutizzata fino ad assurgere a identità perentoria e immutabile.” It does not mean neither to “forget your own cultural identity”, nor to make yourself guilty, but not even to exclude from the beginning what the Other is.

The Listening DEFINITION From root Auris ”Ear", conversational Latin. The word “ascolto” borns in italian as a derivate of the word “ascoltare” (to hear), that comes itself from the Latin word "auscultare", basically “listening with the ear”. The traditional meaning of the term refers to the action of listening ad also to the result of the action itself. Therefore is closely related to the focus of the subject.

The Listening So listening to a foreigner doesn’t mean to obtain information about him but also to open to his story. The foreigner, indeed, stops to be foreign once you try to listen to him understanding his diversity. Therefore it is required for the interlocutor to suspend or abandon his prejudices. When you do that you’re able to look at him with “simpatia” (fondness) sym-pátheia (sym-pátheia =«feel-with him»). The feature of understanding deeply the Other’s position displays the humanity of both the speaker and the interlocutor as a sharing.

The Dialogue DEFINITION Dialogue: from Greek dià-lógos (dià, ”through" e logos, ”question"), indicates the verbal confrontation between two or more people, it is a useful way to express feelings or debate ideas.

The Dialogue FUNCTION: The dialogue is not only a way to express feelings and differences, but also a tool to share values, not necessarily to adopt them but just to understand them. Speaking is not a way to abolish differences, but to accept them The dialogue does not tend to approval, but to a reciprocal progress. Thus the dialogue allows borders to get tainted, allows to find new paths and to follow new routes.

Bibliography E.Bianchi, L’ Altro siamo noi, Einaudi,