Zwei Typen von Fremden -Grillparzers und Christa Wolfs Medea

Abstract

In the course of increasing globalization, we are all confronted by the stranger and the other, alienated in their ethnic, cultural, religious and gender otherness. The Medea myth offers us not only an example, but also a model for the problem of the stranger: because that's the topos of the stranger and others in world literature. Medea is Non-Greek, Barbarian, refugee and women. In my essay I would like to focus on the case Medea, which limit and possibility it offers us to solve the problem of the stranger. In the works of Grillparzer and Christa Wolf two opposing alien types are presented. The first type of stranger is Medea of Grillparzer, which is willing to erase its own identity and assimilate to the local society. In contrast, the Wolfs Medea represents a second type characterized by preserving one's identity in a foreign society. Not only Medea belongs to these types, but also other characters such as Pryksus or Jason in Grillparzer's <Medea> and the Colchians in Corinth in <Medea> Wolfs. Finally, medea was not accepted by the Corinthians, but excluded and banished. In order to solve the problem of coexistence with strangers, it is necessary to introduce interculturalism. Interculturalism opens up the possibility of changing the identity of the subject through encounters with others. Through these meetings and exchanges, strangers and locals can understand each other more, and consequently get closer to changing themselves through each other. This ultimately changes the nature of the community so that a new community can be created.