The texts to be discussed are as follow: ‘District 9’, ‘The Sentinel’ and ‘Victory Unintentional’. These texts are of the theme Humans vs Aliens. The self/other binary concept is conformed and challenged in these texts. For instance, in ‘District 9’ the self/other binary is followed and it is suddenly challenged as Wikus undergoes a transition. Another example is in ‘The Sentinel’ where the self/other binary is inverted as humans are seen as the ‘other’ and the aliens as the ‘self’ due to echelons of their intelligence. These statements will be further analyzed on how they affect anthropocentrism, traditional power norms, values, beliefs and interactions of humans with the environment and their surroundings.
The self/other binary is organized into a pyramidal logic with the ‘self’ at the top of the pyramid and considered the most worthy and valuable. Generally, humans are the ‘self’ and aliens are the ‘other’. The ‘other’ is the total opposite of the ‘self’ and is always at the bottom of the pyramid. Although humans are seen as the ‘self’, there can also be ‘other’ within the human race and this is evident in District 9 as Nigerian immigrants are portrayed as aliens. Humans also speculate that other intelligences exists out there, hence the exploring of the universe. …show more content…
158) ‘District 9’ is a dystopia and therefore symbolizes the poor in South Africa. Generally South Africans have a negative stereotype that Nigerians are criminals, drug dealers and practice witchcraft. Nigerians are considered aliens as they also reside in District 9. This also proves segregation within the human race and thus provokes terrible events like Xenophobia. The usual self/other binary is seen between the Nigerians and the aliens. This is shown as Nigerians make a living by exploiting the aliens by overcharging them for cat
The self/other binary is organized into a pyramidal logic with the ‘self’ at the top of the pyramid and considered the most worthy and valuable. Generally, humans are the ‘self’ and aliens are the ‘other’. The ‘other’ is the total opposite of the ‘self’ and is always at the bottom of the pyramid. Although humans are seen as the ‘self’, there can also be ‘other’ within the human race and this is evident in District 9 as Nigerian immigrants are portrayed as aliens. Humans also speculate that other intelligences exists out there, hence the exploring of the universe. …show more content…
158) ‘District 9’ is a dystopia and therefore symbolizes the poor in South Africa. Generally South Africans have a negative stereotype that Nigerians are criminals, drug dealers and practice witchcraft. Nigerians are considered aliens as they also reside in District 9. This also proves segregation within the human race and thus provokes terrible events like Xenophobia. The usual self/other binary is seen between the Nigerians and the aliens. This is shown as Nigerians make a living by exploiting the aliens by overcharging them for cat