FROM THE STANDPOINT OF VICTIMS

Abstract

The paper highlights a neglected status of the ruled, that of victim.
It questions what a victim is, and points out the historical conditions of the
generalised social status of victims, the ideological representations of the
status of victims in the formation of the social fabric, the dominant point of
view in the historical representations on the relations of victim generation,
and the paradigm shifting from the standpoint of victims.
By using the last scientific research in anthropology, ethology,
archaeology, and by recalling Konrad Lorenz’s, Freud’s, Erich Fromm’s and
René Girard’s explanations, the first part deals with the problem of the
dominant ideology’s legitimating of the human aggressiveness as an
inherited animal instinct. The above-mentioned references prove that the
animal origin of the human aggressiveness is not sustainable. The differences
between the animal aggressiveness and the human one are displayed as well
as the historical development of the generalised and banal victim status.
An interesting feature of victims was their historical “sacredness”. In
mirror – as the Interlude mentions – the contradiction between the holiness of
the child and, when he matures, his transformation into a victim suggests the
necessity to consider the problem of victims as culturally/socially determined
and thus not eternal.
The last part focuses on the problem of dialogue space of victims. The
regular discourse from the dominant point of view in the name of victims
excludes them from the public space. On the contrary, this one is filled with
the “only correct” view in variants which do not challenge the questioning of
victim creation process. Since the most ardent will of victims is to no
longer be victims, the necessity of paradigm shift in the theoretical
approach of social relations was imperious. It concerned the perspective from
which the approach is promoted, i.e. the perspective of victims. The paper
ends by illustrating this shift.