BACHMETJEVAS, Viktoras; LINGIENĖ, Kotryna (eds.)
* as a Journal #6: Other

“At its core, otherness manifests in various forms – race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, or any marker that distinguishes one group from another. The challenge lies in recognising these differences and how societies respond to and navigate the resulting complexities. The tendency to view the ‘other’ as foreign or threatening can lead to exclusion, discrimination, and even violence, perpetuating cycles of misunderstanding and hatred.
One facet of the problem of otherness is the psychological phenomenon of ethnocentrism, where individuals perceive their cultural or social group as the standard against which all others should be measured. This ethnocentric lens often breeds prejudice, as it blinds individuals to the richness and validity of alternative perspectives. Overcoming this ingrained bias requires embracing diversity and cultivating empathy, recognising that what may be unfamiliar is not inherently inferior.
This issue of * as a Journal is organised as a labyrinth with no exit. There is no typology of others, no systematic approach, and neither a conceptual clarification nor solution to a long-standing problem of one form or another of otherness. … Each text is intended not as a signpost on the road to a solution but rather as a bump in that road, an obstacle that seeks to problematise and make something unclear that was clear just a minute ago.”
—from the editorial by Viktoras Bachmetjevas

Contributors: Saulius Geniusas, Genna Rivieccio, Zygimantas Mencenkovas, Krzystof Czyzewski, Donatas Brandisauskas, Gintaras Beresnevicius, Kotryna Lingiene, Sarunas Petrauskas, Arturas Morozovas, David Selim Sayers, David F. Hoinski.

Published by Lithuanian Cultural Institute, 2023
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