Page 30 - IJSA, Vol. 2, No 1-2, 2019

рrint ISSN: 2617-2682; DOI:10.26697/ijsa IJSA

the anecdote provided below a migrant girl describes her is its purpose, peculiarity. Even though a child sees usual
surprise on the first day at school. She seems surprised things: a table, chairs, a desk, all the things which were
by the seen things. in his or her home country, but the child does not see
Everything is so strange, the doors of the rooms are with himself or herself in, among or using these things. The
windows, so everyone could look at our class, the tables child does not understand his or her relation with the
are round and they are standing in the middle of the thing.
class, not facing the board. In my school we have desks A similar point is represented in Schutz’s (1945) work
for two. The teacher stands in front and turns to the “The Stranger”. The author states that the discovery that
desks. When I went to my first English class I was things in the strangers’ new surroundings look quite
amused, in an English classroom there were three old different from what he or she expected them to be at
posters of the Harry Potter movie, while in a French home is frequently the first shock to the stranger’s
class the poster from the book Les Miserables, the face confidence in the validity of his or her habitual “thinking
of a girl. In Spanish, there were posters of a cat Garfield as usual” (Schutz, 1945, p. 501). Interpreting this
and a picture of a Buddha. When I saw all this I’ve lost Schutz’s theme of “thinking as usual” within the
my voice, I could not speak. I was staring at this poster materialistic meaning, it can be seen that a migrant
during the entire lecture. I was panicking (Darja). person finds himself or herself near things that he or she
Darja tells how surprising she finds the arrangement of does not know, they seem strange, alien, not “my own”:
things in the school. Surrounded by new things she feels the usual perception of the world seems broken, and the
unusual. Their arrangement and even their presence in a vision of the new world is yet vague and unclear. Such
school classroom are not acceptable and strange to her. word perception might be similar for children. As
What lies behind the strangeness of the things? How Langeveld (1984, p. 216) writes “the child lives in a
does a child experience that strangeness of things? word which provides him or her with a ready-made
Maybe a child sees strangeness as something unknown? structure of qualities that offers security”. He also says
Or something that might appear as unusual, since have (Langevel, 1984, p. 220): “child’s recognition of the
never been seen? Let’s look at the etiological meanings world and her knowledge of the world are largely
of the word strange. dependent on the help or influence of others”. It means
The English word strange (adj.) means “from elsewhere, if a child raised in a world of things (in the contexts of
foreign, unknown, and unfamiliar”. Clear relation can be migration, world means home country), which he or she
seen with the term alien which has similar meanings – knew (learning from his or her birth and in the following
strange, foreign; an alien, stranger, foreigner. Another life), appears in a new ready-made world of things, but
term that has a similar meaning is unusual, which is which he or she knows nothing of and has problems
composed of a negative particle un and the verb use, and acquainting with it, especially without other people
embraces such meanings as use, custom, practice, around, the child loses his or her security, the child
employment, skill, and habit. If something is unusual, remains helpless. If a grown up person, due to his or her
we cannot or we do not know how to use it at first. At longer and richer life experience, might foreknow what
the same time, if something is strange it is usually not one or another thing has in it, a child needs help to
mine, and as a result, when we talk about something restore his or her “thinking as usual” state. Meanwhile,
what is strange it is important to consider the meaning upon arrival in a new country, the child’s “thinking as
of the word own (mine, our, yours), since what is not usual” is broken, since his or her perception of the world
mine, what does not belong to me, might be someone still relies on his or her native country and the country’s
else’s, stranger’s. Analyzing the word own values, while the new world is somewhat unknown to
etymologically, it is clear that it is associated with the him or her, therefore, seemingly unpredictable.
words to possess, have; rule, be in command of; have In a collection of poems “No Return Address: A
authority over. Of these synonyms it is seen that a thing Collection of Poems”, Waters (2015) dwells on
to which we are accustomed to is as if under our control, migration experiences. In “No return address”, the
we own it and use it. In other words, when we say, it is author is grateful for the memories of his former life, for
mine (my house, my pen, my school), we mean some the world before emigration, which he had, which was
certain personal relation with this object: this is a house known to him, and which was predictable:
I grew up in, or this is the pen I bought today, or this is “Bob, I am grateful for your
a school I went to; the purpose, use, function, and Three letter name.
occupied place of these thing– all are familiar to us. It’s another reminder of home
Whereas things which we are not accustomed to are Of a world predictable
strange, foreign, unknown, and with no connection, Of a life I had”.
since we have nothing in common with these things. The former world is presented as predictable, and its
In migration terms strange and own actualize and their things are known, they remind of home where a person
meanings become especially prevalent. Everything what can feel like in a homeland. Meanwhile, the world of
is associated with the homeland is familiar, while new migration is unpredictable: unknown things do not allow
things of the immigration country become strange. Upon predicting what will happen, and therefore, things may
arrival in a new country, the old thinking – usual things force the person to be always prepared or even fearful.
and the awareness of their purpose, location and the need For children, when seeing unusual things that do not
to use them – distorts; a child does not know what to do meet the perception of their world, they cannot predict
with things (how to behave with them) in a new world, and foresee what their life will be in a new country, in a
what place in this world a certain thing occupies, what new school. The vision for the future, which is based on
29