The Other Other: When the Exotic Other Subjugates the Familiar Other

In this chapter, the theme of the other will be examined and it will be argued that it is important to differentiate between two distinct types of others—the “exotic” other that is distant and very different from the subject, and the “familiar” other that is closer to the subject. The dynamic relationship between these two others will be investigated and emphasis will be given to the process through which the exotic other tends to subjugate the familiar other. This relationship will then be discussed in its various applied forms, in the contexts of clinical practice and sociopolitical dimensions. In particular, a new reading of Jung’s approach to the “primitive” will be developed, based on the subjugation by the “exotic” other of the “familiar” other. A similar line of investigation will be followed to examine the concept of psychological trauma. In addition, Freud’s “narcissism of minor differences” and Bion’s distinction between “narcissism” and “socialism” will be considered in the light of this differentiation between these two others.