What is the concept of the stranger?
The stranger, defined by Georg Simmel as an individual who is a member of a system but who is not strongly attached to the system, influenced (1) such important concepts as social distance, the marginal man, heterophily, and cosmopoliteness, (2) the value on objectivity in social science research, and (3) to a certain …
What is the stranger in sociology?
The stranger is a member of the group in which he lives and participates and yet remains distant from other – “native” – members of the group. In comparison to other forms of social distance and difference (such as class, gender, and even ethnicity) the distance of the stranger has to do with his “origins”.
When did Simmel write the stranger?
“stranger” of Simmel’s (1908) analysis.
What is The Stranger According to Simmel?
For Simmel, the stranger is a social role that combines the seemingly contradictory qualities of nearness and remoteness. The stranger is connected to the broader social community by only the most general (and generic) commonalities, yet is still relied on by large groups of people.
What is the stranger According to Simmel?
What is the stranger effect?
The solution to the problem lies in what I call the stranger-effect – the propensity [tendency] some cultures have to receive the stranger with exceptional honour. In our modern Western societies, the propensity is hard to understand. We mistrust strangers. We reject them.
What is Georg Simmel known for in sociology?
Georg Simmel was an early German sociologist and structural theorist who focused on urban life and the form of the metropolis. He was known for creating social theories that fostered an approach to the study of society that broke with the then-accepted scientific methodology used to examine the natural world.
Who was the stranger essay?
The stranger is a man lost in his own world where no one understands him but himself. This man was portrayed as a monster, un-human, and even heartless all because he chose not to express his emotions or feeling to the world.
What are some themes of The Stranger?
The Stranger Themes
- Meaninglessness of Life and the Absurd. From Meursault’s perspective the world is meaningless, and he repeatedly dismisses other characters’ attempts to make sense of human.
- Chance and Interchangeability.
- Indifference and Passivity.
- Importance of Physical Experience.
- Relationships.
What is the summary of The Stranger?
The novel The Stranger by Albert Camus centers on a French man, Meursault, living in French-occupied Algeria. Meursault goes through life in isolation, reacting to events and relationships without much emotion or attachment.
What is society according to Simmel?
Simmel considered society to be an association of free individuals, and said that it could not be studied in the same way as the physical world, i.e. sociology is more than the discovery of natural laws that govern human interaction.
What is the overall message of The Stranger?
The irrationality of human actions and decisions is one of the major themes of The Stranger. Camus presents the character of Meursault to show this irrationality in human actions, decisions, life, and relationships.
What is the sociological form of the Stranger by Simmel?
The sociological form of the stranger’ reveals Simmel’s love of the paradox by emphasizing a mixture of opposites” (McLemore 86). “People always have been concerned about the entrance of a new person into the group”(McLemore 87). The stranger brings a potential for change, and change can be threatening for a group.
How is the stranger perceived in the group?
The stranger is perceived as extraneous to the group and even though he is in constant relation to other group members; his “distance” is more emphasized than his “nearness”. As one subsequent interpreter of the concept put it, the stranger is perceived as being in the group but not of the group.
How does the stranger treat his experiences and close relationships?
The stranger is able to treat his experiences and close relationships with a group with clarity and objectivity. “He is freer practically and theoretically; he surveys conditions with less prejudice; his criteria for them are more general and more objective ideals; he is not tied down in his action by habit, piety, and precedent” (Simmel 2).
Who is the stranger according to Shakespeare?
The stranger, he says, comes today and stays tomorrow. The stranger is a member of the group in which he lives and participates and yet remains distant from other – “native” – members of the group.