THE ALTID© DIAGRAM
Escapism versus Curiosity
“The concept of alterity or otherness, an essential ingredient of exoticism (…), serves to explain why the semiotic universe is “made of deviations, differences, deferment and renvois, displacements, and transformations”
NÖTH Winfried and SANTAELLA Lucia (2007).
Exoticism is not a static, monolithic, or unidimensional concept; rather, it is a dynamic judgment formulated upon an active awareness of specific differences. The ALTID© (Alterity-Identity) diagram is a precise analytical mapping tool created by the author to structure foundational human motivations, positioning individual and social attitudes toward the self (Identity) and the foreign (Alterity).
1. Theoretical background and axes definition
We have identified in Chapter 3 the 5 basic modalities generating the feeling of exoticism: i.e., the spatial, temporal, cognitive, gender, and mobility gaps. We focus in this text on the mobility modality: travel. “Besides family and business obligations, why do we decide (or not) to travel?”
The dual impulses of travel: escapism versus curiosity
At the root of the ALTID© diagram's construction are two primary, opposing psychological drives that motivate voluntary displacement from the home base. These drives are not mutually exclusive but function as the underlying engine of exoticism's dynamism:
- Escapism (evading the base): This drive is characterized by a desire to break free, mentally or physically, from the expected routine and everyday responsibilities. Victor Segalen describes the home environment (the 'Base' as defined in Chapter 1) negatively as a 'contemptible and petty present' characterized by boredom. This urge to flee is famously captured by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé in his work 'Naval Breeze' (Brise marine): 'The flesh is sad, alas! And I read all the books. Flee! Flee there…' Escapism is anchored in a search for disjunction from one's native environment and often from one’s own culture as well.
- Curiosity (The Search for Otherness): In contrast to the negative flight of escapism, curiosity represents an active, passionate attraction to the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the diverse. Psychologists Edgar Dubourg and Nicolas Baumard identify this as a human 'cognitive bias for novel environments.' It stems from evolutionary advantages of spatial exploration, such as discovering new resources and learning new action-outcome associations. This biological drive manifests culturally as a desire to perceive 'local colors' and experience diversity. Segalen passionately advocates for this drive, stating that 'all of exoticism lies in the capacity to conceive the Other and immediately savor its difference'.
From the semiotic square of attitude towards self and other to the ALTID© 2D diagram
To establish a systematic analytical framework, we construct a traditional semiotic square based on the contrary attitudes of Conjunction with the Other (a positive attitude toward alterity) versus Conjunction with the Base (a positive attitude toward identity). The contradictory axes represent respectively Disjunction from the Base (escapism) and Disjunction from the Other (indifference or hatred). See Figure 3.5.
Figure 3.5. Semiotic square of attitudes towards alterity and identity
However, to move beyond rigid binary categorizations and enable precise intensity measurements, the author transforms the semiotic square into a two-dimensional coordinate system. This transition from a flat square to a 2D mapping follows a methodological model pioneered by semiotician Andrea Semprini, who in 1992 mapped consumer values in a similar coordinate fashion.
The ALTID© diagram is defined by the intersection of two primary axes that cross at a central point of absolute neutrality, surrounded by a designated 'grey zone' of relative indifference. See Figure 3.7.
- The Horizontal Axis (Identity / The Base) traces the subject's relationship with their cultural, social, and physical home environment. It ranges from a highly positive attitude on the extreme left ('love for home,' 'very fond of home culture') to a highly negative attitude on the extreme right ('boredom,' 'extraneity,' and 'hatred for home').
Figure 3.7. The ALTID© diagram: 4 meaningful quadrants
- The Vertical Axis (Alterity / The Other) measures the subject's relationship with foreign peoples, cultures, and distant spaces. It ranges from a highly positive attitude at the top extreme ('love for other,' 'genuine interest,' 'empathy') to a highly negative attitude at the bottom extreme ('uneasiness,' 'hatred for other').
The intersection of the Identity and Alterity axes produces four highly meaningful quadrants, each defining a distinct psychological, ideological, and behavioral orientation toward self and other. These quadrants serve to map specific socio-political worldviews as well as classic historical and cultural archetypes.
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Quadrant 1: Universalism (Top-Left) |
Characterized by positive attitudes toward both Identity and Alterity, this space represents humanism, cosmopolitanism, and active policies of social inclusion. The subject values their home culture while remaining genuinely curious, empathetic, and welcoming to foreign societies. They do not view appreciation of the other as a threat to their self-identity. This is, in general, the Exotes’ attitude. |
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Quadrant 2: Betrayal (Top-Right) |
Defined by a negative attitude toward Identity combined with a positive attitude toward Alterity. It is characterized by a rejection of one's native culture and a total adoption of a foreign culture. This quadrant represents the 'grass-is-greener' psychological syndrome, leading to Chameleonism: systematically changing opinions in response to new contexts or opportunities, especially in politics. It reflects an absence of ideology in cases of frequent changes of opinion. It may also reflect strong convictions when the change happens once in a lifetime. |
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Quadrant 3: Exclusivism (Bottom-Left) |
Marked by a positive attitude toward Identity and a negative attitude toward Alterity, this quadrant represents ideologies of nationalism, conservatism, ethnocentrism, and various forms of xenophobia or racism. Egocentrism is not an ideology, but it is a sufficiently common trait of character to mention it, as it is particularly adequate to describe the attitudes belonging to this quadrant. |
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Quadrant 4: Misanthropism (Bottom-Right) |
Defined by a negative attitude toward both Identity and Alterity, this quadrant represents misanthropy and a fundamental lack of empathy toward humankind. It represents a dual rejection of both native and foreign cultures. |
Some attitudes will fall in between the quadrants when they are indifferent to one of the two axes.
For instance, altruism, philanthropy, xenophilia, and xenophobia are independent of attitudes toward identity.
2. Applications of the ALTID diagram
Human Archetypes within the ALTID© Space
Several classic human archetypes can be precisely positioned on the diagram, allowing the distinction between seemingly similar behaviors (see Figure 3.10):
Figure 3.10. Positioning human archetypes
- The Exote: Coined by Victor Segalen and positioned in Quadrant 1, the exote represents the ultimate discerning traveler. He is passionate about otherness and exoticism but is fully at peace with himself and his native Base, allowing him to judge cultural differences and diversity serenely, without losing his own identity.
- The Peaceful Missionary: Also positioned in Quadrant 1, this archetype possesses a genuine, non-coercive belief that their native traditions or religion will benefit foreign populations, reflecting an authentic love for both home and the other. (This contrasts with the historical realities of forced conversions).
- The Defector versus the Traitor: Positioned in Quadrant 2, the defector abandons their home country for purely ideological, philosophical, or spiritual beliefs (e.g., American GIs defecting during the Vietnam War). The traitor, also in Quadrant 2, acts not on ideology but on immediate self-interest, capitalizing on the rejection of home.
- The Fanatical Expatriate: Located within Quadrant 2, this individual attempts to become 'more native than the natives', e.g., Westerners in Japan completely rejecting their Western identity, or the French math teacher in Phnom Penh in 1975 who adopted the black clothing of the Khmer Rouge, only to be evacuated by truck with other foreigners after the fall of the city. This also reflects the psychological state captured by the Cantonese proverb: 'Fingers bend out and don't bend in' (手指拗出唔拗入), which describes a person who consistently sides with outsiders against their own family or group.
- The Explorer versus the Adventurer: The explorer is positioned high on the Alterity axis, driven by pure curiosity for the other, independent of his feelings toward home. The adventurer is located near the horizontal axis, motivated mainly by personal risk-taking and a desire to escape the boredom of the Base, rather than an authentic interest in otherness.
Sayings and Euphoric Expressions
The ALTID© diagram provides a spatial mapping for historical expressions of travel sentiment. In Quadrant 1, one can position the prophecy of the Odyssey: 'At the end of the earth, life for mortals is only sweetness'—expressing a pure, euphoric alterity. Symmetrically, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus declared: 'There we cherish the distant because it is distant', reflecting a reverence for what is unfamiliar. However, this saying carries an ironic duality: it can represent a genuine appreciation of otherness, or a preference for keeping strangers at a safe physical distance so that the illusion of exotic harmony is never shattered by real-world friction.
Examples of biographical journeys (Gauguin and Rimbaud)
An interesting feature of the ALTID© framework is its capacity to trace temporal shifts in human attitudes. By mapping individual biographies over time, the diagram visualizes the intellectual and psychological journeys of two famous artists deeply linked to exoticism: Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Gauguin.
Figure 3.11. Gauguin and Rimbaud’s alterity and identity respective journeys
Arthur Rimbaud's geographic and psychological journeys
Rimbaud’s life represents a profound ambulatory mania that Victor Segalen defined as an 'irresistible need to feel and live everything; the ineluctable impulse to wander.' His life can be mapped across four distinct ALTID stages:
- Rimbaud 1 (Rebel Poet - Q2): Between ages 14 and 19, Rimbaud exhibits an 'outrageous individualism' and a hatred of the petty present. Boredom with his domestic life makes him indifferent to others, focusing purely on his subjective, rebellious poetic creation as a 'poète irrécusable' (an irrefutable poet).
- Rimbaud 2 (Tireless Wanderer - Q1/Q2 boundary): Between ages 20 and 26, the 'man with soles of wind' (*l'homme aux semelles de vent*) travels the world (Belgium, England, Java, Egypt…), rapidly mastering foreign languages. His incredible linguistic capacity shows an active connection to alterity, but his relationship with identity is somewhat positive: whenever he falls ill or faces a crisis, he returns to his mother in Charleville-Mézières to recover.
- Rimbaud 3 (Harar Trader - Q4): In Aden and Harar, Rimbaud becomes a commercial trader (*voyageur de commerce*). His letters reveal an egocentric, painful journey focused solely on survival. His comments regarding local populations are very negative, positioning him low on the Alterity axis, while his nostalgia for home grows, prompting him to write to his family about finding a wife who would travel with him.
- Rimbaud 4 (The Return - Q3/Q1 boundary): In the final year of his life, as his health deteriorates rapidly, Rimbaud returns to France. Reconciled with his native Base, he finds solace, medical care, and comfort under morphine, dying as an 'aspirant au repos' (an aspirant for rest).
Paul Gauguin's Search for Maori Alterity
Paul Gauguin’s departure for Tahiti in 1891 was driven by a desire to escape the stagnation and boredom of Paris (Gauguin 1, positioned in Quadrant 2). He sought self-realization through the 'others' gaze' and wished to embrace the simplicity of Maori life. Over time, Gauguin delved deeply into Maori culture, painting them 'from the inside out' (Gauguin 2, positioned in Quadrant 1, high on Alterity). His final reconciliation with his homeland is captured by his supposed final painting, Breton village under the snow (Village Breton sous la neige). Rescued by Segalen at an auction in Papeete three months after the painter's death, this canvas—featuring a freezing Breton winter painted from memory on a tropical island—reflects a powerful nostalgic connection to Gauguin's native identity, confirming a positive shift along the Identity axis.
3. Cross-Disciplinary Overlaps and Structural Alignments
The ALTID© diagram maps directly onto several prominent sociological, semiotic, and business models, demonstrating its wide theoretical versatility and multiple correspondences with other disciplines(see Chapter 3 for the detailed semiotic squares)
- Jean-Marie Floch's 4 ways to be in the world: This unpublished semiotic square maps 'Immersion/Contact' (an active presence with raw facts in both alterity and identity) directly into Quadrant 1, while 'Recoil/Distance' (detaching and taking a step back) maps directly into Quadrant 4.
- Georg Simmel's Sociology of 'The Stranger': Simmel defines the stranger as someone physically present in the Base but socially distant, granting him a unique impartiality. This distinguishes the stranger from the 'wanderer' (who comes today and leaves tomorrow), the 'outsider' (who does not come at all), and the 'long-term expatriate.' This square of physical and social distances aligns with the ALTID© spatial coordinates.
- Giulia Ceriani's Brand Strategy Square: Ceriani (2015) maps 'Authenticity' (brand focus on its own identity, 'me and me') versus 'Gratuitous Design' (focus on the market, 'me and them'). Quadrant 1 maintains both identity and market (e.g., Loro Piana). Quadrant 2 preserves brand identity while testing new markets (e.g., Ferrari). Quadrant 3 represents gratuitous, unrestricted market exploration (e.g., Gucci), while Quadrant 4 prioritizes existing market clients over historical brand identity (e.g., CFOC).
- The Tourism Attraction-Repulsion Matrix: Developed by Josiassen, Kock, and Norfelt (2022), this matrix outlines tourist affinity (connection, sympathy) and animosity (fear, rejection). The matrix's four outcomes map perfectly onto the ALTID quadrants, where Universalism corresponds to high domestic and foreign affinity, and Exclusivism corresponds to domestic affinity coupled with foreign animosity.
Refer to Chapter 3 of the book EXOTICISM, BRANDS AND SOCIETY (Amazon.com) for academic references, more diagrams, and further developments.