THE SENSE OF OTHERS - REFLECTIONS ON AN ERASMUS
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THE SENSE OF OTHERS - REFLECTIONS ON AN ERASMUS
Photo Source: Gaetano Sciacca
In 1994 Anthropologist Marc Augé published one of his most important and influential literary works: "The sense of others. Current anthropology". Close to the philosophical thought for which "the identification of oneself occurs only in the relationship with otherness", he wrote about how the attempt to understand the Cultural Other was a reflection of the search for one's own cultural identity.
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In a world that travels swiftly towards supranational political structures, I found I have much less in common with my neighbor than with a Romanian girl or a Georgian boy... In the years when nationalisms are sadly making a comeback, we can still really talk seriously national identity? In other words, are we really sure that the average 20-year-old Russian cares about Putin's "sense" of national identity? This is a purely theoretical discourse, considering the regime's propaganda.
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I have seen Ukrainian girls tell about the devastation their land has suffered, with such clarity and sweetness that none of us has been able to hold back a single tear. I got to know the kindness and extraordinary energy of the Georgians. I appreciated the acumen and polite manners of the Greeks. I had a feeling of absolute harmony with the Romanian girls, as if they were the friends with whom we pleasantly meet on a Saturday night. And finally I met the delicacy of the only Moldovan girl and the proud gaze of the Latvians that hides a surprising generosity of spirit.
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In these days of May I have tried to understand the "meaning" of being Latvian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Georgian, Greek and Romanian.
In these days of May I have been Latvian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Georgian, Greek and Romanian.
The sense of others is our own sense.

Test by Antonino Rampulla
Traslation by Gaetano Sciacca

Project of the "Attiva-Mente" Association, Think Green, Erasmus Plus, May 2022

Text Source: Antonino Rampulla
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