Exoticizing the Familiar

Imagine experiencing some daily event. This event is completely ordinary and “normal”. Now imagine this daily event transformed in the way you understand it. By speculation that this event is not so normal, but instead a practice comprised of odd sets of rules and rituals, the ordinary now occurs as being extraordinary by virtue of said speculation. Such a change in thinking, simply put, is “exoticizing the familiar”. The continuous cycle of speculation causing social action, causing speculation, causing social action and so on, is the very definition of sociological practice. In Peter Berger’s essay “Invitation to Sociology”, this concept of exoticizing the familiar is the topic of exploration. “Things are not what they seem,” writes Berger, “Social reality turns out to have many layers of meaning. The discovery of each new layer changes the perception of the whole.” Here, the “many layers of meaning” are these ordinary events that occur every day. When a discovery is made about such event, it “changes the perception of the whole,” that is, the ordinary event has become extraordinary through speculation that this event is not longer what it seemed to be. It is like becoming a tourist at home, taking what is familiar and making it foreign and amazing.

While explaining in generalities is useful to relate a sociological concept to a wider spectrum of experiences and events, it is difficult to relate to “real life” without some sort of evidence seen in society. One such example of Berger’s topic, exoticizing the familiar, is portrayed with how our society views money. America is built on the foundation of capitalism, a system that values a monetary system that allows for trade externally with the rest of the world, as well as internally to her citizens. Naturally, money has a certain value depending on what denomination that bill or coin is. With money, I can buy a new pair of shoes, breakfast, or a haircut. This seems perfectly ordinary, buying things we want or need on a daily basis. However, when viewed from the outside in, like a Martian who has no concept of money, this practice of buying and selling seems downright odd. Think about what is actually going on in these transactions. A customer gives a small piece of paper with some writing and some pictures on it to a cashier, and in turn the cashier gives the customer a new car, for example. This small piece of paper, the dollar so to speak, is nothing but a small piece of paper! It does not represent an amount of a precious metal or a number of personal assets, but is merely a piece of paper. The fact that I can exchange my small piece of paper for a bagel is plain old bizarre. This is exactly what Berger explains in his essay; now that such a suggestion has been made, a small change has occurred in the way you understand the concept of money. Just by pointing out the quirks and oddities of such a practice, one becomes more aware of the practice itself; that is, what one lacked to notice prior. This chain of speculation to social action is precisely Berger’s argument, “things are not what they seem.”