This book is concerned with the notion of the stranger the foreigneroutsider or alien in a country and society not their own as well as thenotion of strangeness... » 

This book is concerned with the notion of the stranger the foreigneroutsider or alien in a country and society not their own as well as thenotion of strangeness within the self a persons deep sense of being asdistinct from outside appearance and their conscious idea of self.Kristeva begins with the personal and moves outward by examining worldliterature and philosophy. She discusses the foreigner in Greek tragedy in theBible and in the literature of the Middle Ages Renaissance Enlightenmentand the twentieth century. She discusses the legal status of foreignersthroughout history gaining perspective on our own civilization. Her insightsinto the problems of nationality particularly in France are more timely andrelevant in an increasingly integrated and fractious world. «