1 FEB 06
Every encounter produces, even if for only the flash of an instant, a xenia--the occurrence of coexistence which is also an event of strangeness or foreignness. A strange occurrence that, nonetheless, happens constantly--we have no other experience of living than encounters. We have no other use for language than to have them.
Foreignness is different from alienation; the two notions are differently nuanced. Alienation connotes separation, detachment. Foreignness, of course, may suggest that too, in that a feeling of foreignness is a feeling of being where one doesn't belong--but where alienation involves a step back from a situation, foreignness involves a step into it. The alienated withdraws, the foreigner proceeds and becomes a guest. (Lyn Hejinian *)
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