Abstract
In Sandra Cisneros’s novel The House on Mango Street is about the Latino experience as a minority group in the United States. This article focused on the concept of ‘othering’ originally as part of a post-colonial theory. This concept can be related to feminist and Marxist perspectives as well. It is also involved in many academic fields, including literature. The construction of othering in this novel can be manifested in forms of linguistic features, mimicry, double consciousness, unhomeliness, gender roles, and socioeconomic class. The findings represented the negative effects of the othering practices in which affecting psychological, economical, and sociocultural dimensions of the people in general.
Highlights
A post-colonial theory is one of the most important theories that reflects the human relationships in both reality and literary works, especially criticizing against colonialist ideologies
The study indicates that the othering can be manifested in different forms in both direct and indirect ways
From a post-colonial perspective, it demonstrates the power and oppressive nature that are concealed in the concept of othering
Summary
A post-colonial theory is one of the most important theories that reflects the human relationships in both reality and literary works, especially criticizing against colonialist ideologies. As a social, linguistic, and psychological mechanism, distinguishes ‘us’ from ‘them’, othering creates an exclusion. It breeds inequality and produces tension, dissention, or even conflict between members of the two groups by treating the other as an inferior. As Canales (2000) pointed out, “our understanding of the other is important for how we understand difference and how we engage with those perceived as different from self—as the other This process of engagement is termed othering” The term is used extensively to define the relations between self and other in creating self–awareness and ideas of identity (Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 2009). The concept of othering, in a broad sense, means a mental distance is created between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
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