Abstract
How do we encounter the strange? How is the stranger manifested to us in the world? With such encounters and manifestations, how should we respond? These are the paramount questions in this volume of essays edited by Kearney and Semonovitch. The work begins with two chapters of prolegomena. In the first chapter, one finds a complex, yet helpful, introduction to the themes of the volume by way of discussions of a number of phenomenologies of the stranger within the Western tradition. Here the pivotal ideas of Levinas, Husserl, Derrida, and others are explored. The second chapter introduces the volume’s essays, many of which address the theme of hospitality in relation to the stranger. The essays in this volume are organized around four conceptual approaches: hospitality and liminal spaces, sacred strangeness, strangeness and the self, and the relationship of hosts and guests.
There are many compelling contributions in this volume for theologians and philosophers of religion; for example, Brian Treanor’s essay on hospitality and place, as well as the four essays that focus on sacred strangeness, which I found to be most relevant. In the first essay of this section, John Caputo contributes a provocative piece on hospitality and God as one who disturbs and disrupts. Augustinian scholar Karmen MacKendrick also provides an interesting discussion of attentiveness—and specifically listening—in a world of strangeness. Anthony Steinbock contributes a rich essay on “giveness” in the incarnate experience by drawing on examples of mystics in the Abrahamic traditions. This section of the volume on sacred strangeness concludes with a contribution by Kalpana Rahita Seshadri in which she considers Derrida’s discussions of hospitality as akin to the experience of death.
As a whole, this is an excellent contribution to the growing body of literature in philosophy on strangeness, the stranger, and hospitality. It should be noted, though, that this text is not specifically an investigation of the biblical or Christian theological discussions of strangeness and hospitality. There are other recently published works that employ this more particular scope. Moreover, this volume is not for the beginner or faint of heart. Familiarity with some rather advanced concepts and significant figures in Western philosophy is advantageous—if not requisite—in approaching this work. For graduate students and scholars with an interest in these topics this volume will be a welcomed addition to one’s library.
Christina M. Busman is Assistant Professor of Theology at Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota.