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68 Dagnoslaw Demski Playing With Otherness: Within and Beyond Stereotypes in Visual Representations In this paper I will focus on an aspect of objectified imagery of Otherness seen through visual material published in the nineteenth-century press in Poland. Alterity was presented in a slightly different way due to the characteristic cultural tools (refinement, satire, humor) used during that time. As we can see further, two types of representations of Others prevailed—Poland’s own internal classes and internal/external ethnic groups. Every community, defined by its place and time, has certain needs and aspirations but also faces problems and adversities when attempting to accomplish its aspirations. The reality is viewed from a local perspective, and the locals are preoccupied with matters that are related to their lives and to the possibility of fulfilling their expectations. Significant matters find their reflection in debates, disputes, and cultural articulations, which comprise both the collective and the individual experiences; there are myriad possibilities, and life provides a rich diversity of their manifestations and their representations. All standard representations of the ethnic Otherness presented here may be considered as a treasure trove of Polish or—in a broader sense—eastern European bigotries. We might also pay attention to how the representations of Otherness/alterity in all its forms, whether offensive or positive, relate to social divisions and structures of power within society. However, in order to avoid any possible charges of superficiality, we could investigate this issue further and attempt to state what type of humorous images prevailed in a particular period of time and the reason for such prevalence. To do this we can roughly characterize two types of representations, the serious and the nonserious, and it is possible to state that what is labeled humorous does not always denote funny—often quite otherwise. We can also recognize the playful aspects of representations of alterity including ethnic Otherness. Thus within the same reality or event, there could exist a serious representation of the reality or event (depending on the state of our knowledge), a humorous one (funny or unfunny), an amusing or unamusing version (depending on the intention), and a playful version. All of the representations seem to reflect several concepts, such as seriousness, discipline, surveillance, humor, and stereotypes, and these cultural concepts seem worthy of further examination. ‘The present study is intended to examine one type of subject of representation— the Other and Otherness—in the chosen titles of the Polish press at the turn of the nineteenth century. I have mostly focused on visual representations; the literary and journalistic ones represent a separate subject.
