The meeting with Another Man in journeys and tourism according to Ryszard Kapuściński

Ryszard Kapuściński worked in Africa, Asia and Latin America as a foreign correspondent of Polish Press Agency. The most important event for him was meeting with the another man. He described three possible solutions: a conflict, an isolation and a dialogue. He modeled himself on Herodotus. The ancient Greek was first who left his house, met the another man and noticed existence of other cultures. Kapuściński found theoretical basis for his views in philosophy of the encounter. F. Ebner, M. Buber, E. Levinas created the trend in philosophy which emphasized significance of interpersonal relations. The most important event was encounter between “I” and “You”. Mass tourism, according to Szczepański or Przecławski, does not contribute to a friendly encounter. Tourists may come back to their own countries humiliated or convinced of their superiority. They are afraid of contact with alien. One of the reasons may be lack of strong identity. Tourists live in isolated areas, experience foreign countries in safe places like hotels and resorts (Podemski, Todorov). Kapuściński describes possible patterns of encounter with the another man. A traveler must encourage host to take up a dialogue. He/she should give up the attitude of superiority and acquire knowledge about the another man and his culture. The essence of the dialogue is the quest of common ideas and values.

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