Alterity - a category of practice and analysis : preliminary remarks

Abstract

This article provides introductory remarks on the concept of alterity, which could stimulate the discussion on newsreels/media and their representation of the Other. Starting from the observation that alterity has often been overshadowed by an overestimation of identity, the article differentiates between various fields of alterity : amongst them, real alterity in societal practice, representational alterity in media contexts, and attitudes of othering in movements between alterity or alienness. It critically brings to the fore some underlying frameworks and unspoken assumptions. Finally, the article asks whether the positioning of alterity in 20th-century newsreels has provided first approaches for overcoming its binary corset in the direction of a global circulation of images. Can this perhaps be seen as a step towards turning our attention to a revaluation and new recognition of the Other?