Short Response Paper 2: Demonizing the “Other” Today, the people who do not fit in dominant culture are considered “other.” Others include everyone who is not like “us.” According to Amishai-Maisels, there are two types of other: internal other and external. People consider members outside of their own culture or society as external others, whereas an internal other is a member of the same culture or society who does not share the same “race, religion, gender, or social class” as the majority of the culture. In visual arts, both the internal and external other are depicted using demonic imagery to inculcate negative attitudes and perceptions towards the people in the “other.” Artists of Ancient Greece used physical deformity and animal body …show more content…
After the reign of Emperor Constantine, artists portrayed the devil as a winged blue or purple angel and demons as small black angels or shadows with unkempt hair. Later, during the eighth and ninth centuries, devils were described as having “horns, claws, fiery breath, unruly hair, and hooked noses.” Christians accused Jews and Muslims of being the originators of iconoclasm and depicted them very similarly to the depiction of devils; the main difference between the depiction of Jews and Muslims was that Muslims were portrayed as black. The association between Jews/Muslims and devils characterized Jews/Muslims as devil worshippers. Black and hairy imagery in art often represented the wildness of man, because during the age of exploration groups like the Native Americans and black Africans replaced the idea of a monstrous race with the “wild man,” and the devil is associated with wildness. The association between horn imagery and Jews originated during the Fourth Crusades, because Christians made Jews wear horned hats (pileum cornutum) to identify themselves. The story of Samuel anointing David strengthened the connection of Jews and horns because the Psalters portray David as receiving a single horn. This led to the characterization of all Jews with horns. Artists intentionally used the type of imagery in portraying the “other” to show their association with the devil. There are clear parallels between the depiction the devil and the “other.” The demonic imagery rhetorically functions as a way for the human brain to visually separate people from one another and further cement the us vs them mentality. Using the same imagery to portray the “other” groups and the devil makes it far easier to convey that those people are like the devil and should not be allowed into civilized