Foundations for a phenomenology of the strange

Abstract

This article presents the foundations of a phenomenology of the strange based on the work of Bernhard Waldenfels, offering a systematic analysis of otherness beyond ontological, normative, or purely cultural approaches. The text distinguishes between relative strangeness—open to assimilation through knowledge or understanding—and radical strangeness, understood as that which disrupts experience without being fully appropriated or reduced to what is familiar. From a phenomenological perspective, strangeness is defined not by what it is, but by how it appears, marked by inaccessibility, distance, and a disruption of meaning. The article develops a topography of the strange, analyzing its spatial, temporal, and symbolic dimensions, as well as its relation to thresholds, limits, and “non-places.” It also examines the relational structure between pathos and response, arguing that the experience of strangeness occurs as something that affects us prior to comprehension or judgment. Finally, the article addresses the ethical and political implications of otherness, emphasizing that any politics of the strange must recognize its irreducible character and adopt a responsive ethics that avoids neutralization, exclusion, or instrumentalization. Overall, the article provides a solid conceptual framework for understanding strangeness as a constitutive dimension of human experience.