The Perception of the Other and the Topos of Boundary in Priča O Kmetu Simanu

Abstract

The experience of the interaction of the Self with the Other is inherently linked with the matters of selfdetermination, the constitution of ones identity and its narativisation, all of which deal with self-interpretation. In the context of that process, the issue of the communication with the Other is of extreme importance, while the discourse of identity is a valuble, indispensable part of the power strategy, submission, but of resistance as well.
As the Other is positioned at a distance which separates the Self and the Other, the subject always establishes a boundary which becomes the place for both the re/construction of identity and for its complete transformation. Applying these notions to Andrić’s story titled Priča o kmetu Simanu, one discovers the fragility of the identity’s inner cohesion and the multiple dispersion of differences which come as a result of the contact with the Other, and with oneself.