Identity and Alterity. The Ambivalent Figure of the Stranger
Journal title RIVISTA SPERIMENTALE DI FRENIATRIA
Author/s Laura Sanò
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/2
Language Italian Pages 21 P. 9-29 File size 291 KB
DOI 10.3280/RSF2026-002002
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The relationship between identity and alterity is examined through the figure of the foreigner, understood in its constitutive ambivalence. By bringing together philosophical reflection, classical tradition and contemporary thought, the essay shows that the foreigner cannot be reduced to a merely external figure opposed to identity, but rather constitutes an essential element in its definition. Starting from the analysis of the categories of xenos, hostis and hospes, the essay highlights the double nature of the foreigner, at once guest and enemy, gift and threat. From this perspective, identity does not appear as an original and stable given, but as the result of a process that takes shape in the relationship with the other, within a tension that can never be fully resolved between openness and defence, hospitality and rejection. The essay thus enters the contemporary debate by questioning the very possibility of speaking today of identity, showing that identity is given only in relation to what exposes it, calls it into question and, at the same time, makes it possible.
Keywords: Identity, Alterity, Foreigner, Hospitality, Xenos, Hospes.
Laura Sanò, Identità e alterità. La figura ambivalente dello straniero in "RIVISTA SPERIMENTALE DI FRENIATRIA" 2/2026, pp 9-29, DOI: 10.3280/RSF2026-002002