Europe’s internal wildness rivaled its exotic external others

Evidence

Otherness outside Europe was not necessarily as important as otherness within Europe. Tales of strange beings outside Europe - such as Herodotus’ tales of monstrous beings overseas - were matched by tales of others within Europe, such as the “Wild Man” and the “Green Man.” These figures were real enough considering that Europe until the eleventh century mostly consisted of forest and uncleared land, so much of Europe was unknown and mysterious. Pagan practices continued locally long after the imposition of Christianity. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 186 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Europe’s earliest others were internal figures like the Wild Man, not overseas peoples — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 186; Medieval Europe’s internal wilderness made the Other a domestically lived experience — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 186; Europe’s others were internal and predate the external other — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 184 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Europe’s earliest others were internal figures like the Wild Man, not overseas peoples #expands (0.93) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 186
• Europe’s self-construction against an Other drew mainly on its own internal realities #corroborates (0.92)