Cosmic Strangers: Humans and Aliens On Space Travel Cartoons

Abstract

This article expands Simmel's classic concept of the “stranger” from humans to aliens as “cosmic strangers.” It deploys this concept to the study of cartoons depicting human–alien encounters on Earth and on other heavenly bodies. An analysis of a small database of such cartoons shows that their humorous point is primarily derived from an incongruity inherent in the mixture of familiarity and Otherness in the representation of the aliens. Four principal types of such mixture are distinguished, and the different saliency of familiarity as against Otherness in the representation of aliens on Earth and on other stars is pointed out. The article thus opens an avenue to the sociological study of space travel humor.