Full Description
The Sociology of the Stranger examines estrangement as a pervasive human experience, arguing that the figure of the stranger has been insufficiently theorized as a central social type.
By drawing on phenomenology, ethnomethodology, dramaturgical analysis, Kwang-ki Kim reinterprets the stranger as a key to understanding contemporary dynamics such as globalization, dislocation, and social adaptation. Rather than being marginal, the stranger is shown to be constitutive of both social life and sociological inquiry, offering a model for authenticity, reconciliation, and homecoming. Highlighting how sociologists themselves often occupy the stranger's position, this book is essential reading across the humanities and social sciences, revealing how the figure of the stranger illuminates dynamics of dislocation, adaptation, and the search for home in an age of transformation.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Part I: Sociological Theory of the Stranger
Chapter 1: The Stranger and the Dramaturgical Metaphor
Chapter 2: Natural Attitude
Chapter 3: Phenomenology of the Stranger
Part II: The Stranger and Human Agency
Chapter 4: The Unity of Transcendence and Immanence
Chapter 5: The Unity of Intimacy and Aloofness
Chapter 6: The Unity of Anxiety and Relief
Part III: The Stranger and Modernity
Chapter 7: Normality and Abnormality
Chapter 8: The Stranger and Modern Man
Chapter 9: Tolerance and Hospitality
Part IV: Applied Theory
Chapter 10: Dogville: The Film
Chapter 11: Kirogi Papa (Wild Goose Dad)
Chapter 12: Jonjaegam (Matter)
Chapter 13: COVID-19 and The Stranger
Part V: Home
Chapter 14: Melancholy, Nostalgia, and Home
Chapter 15: Authenticity Hunters: Sociologist, Phenomenologist, and the Stranger
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
