Octavian Paler’s Caminante – The Journey as Intercultural Dialogue and Self-definition of Identity

Abstract

Identity is a polymorphous concept, defined in the current theoretical approaches as an ongoing process and as an always dynamic report between the ipse and idem poles - according to Paul Ricoeur’s terminology in Soi-même comme un autre. From this point of view, the self pluri-identity stances are closely related to otherness, because self-affirmation requires a constant reference to the other. A careful observer, penetrating to the essence of things, Octavian Paler performs in his travel journals a series of
reflections, reviews and cultural considerations, comparisons between cultures and civilizations. One such text is Caminante, which is not just a travel book, as it may look at the first glance. Assuming that the work is a confession of the writer’s experiences in the distant lands of Mexico, an analysis of the contradictions, of civilizations clashes, of different cultures, or of differences in mentality, this paper aims
to follow how is the other perceived in relation to his own identity and cultural formation.