Taniec wokół dzikiego

Abstract

Dancing around the Savage

A tendency to create a simplified image of people from a different culture may, in the case of intercontinental contacts, develop into a stereotype. The author of the article, analysing the basis of the European myth through the perspective of the Europeans’ attitude to others, points to a significant intrinsic differentiation of the concept of “alien”. While “barbarians” have been known to the Europeans for a long time, the concept of “savage” is a newer term, bearing a different functionality and being definitely more depreciating – at least from the Polish linguistic perspective.