Otherness is the quality of being strange and different — of not being “one of us.” It is not a thing you can hold. It is how a person, a group, or even a place can feel foreign, set apart, or hard to fit into the usual picture.

Otherness is the quality of being strange and different是那種陌生、不一樣的特質——of not being "one of us."也就是不屬於「我們這一國」的感覺. It is not a thing you can hold它不是一個你摸得到的東西。It is how a person, a group, or even a place can feel foreign, set apart, or hard to fit into the usual picture它是指一個人、一群人、甚至一個地方，怎麼會讓人覺得陌生、被隔開，或很難融入一般的樣子。

Writers and thinkers use it when they talk about how a society treats people it marks as different: by race, language, religion, or custom. A traveller can feel their own otherness in a new country; a film can play on the otherness of a stranger in a small town.

Writers and thinkers use it作家和思想家會用這個字 when they talk about how a society treats people it marks as different來談一個社會怎麼對待被它標記為「不一樣」的人: by race, language, religion, or custom依種族、語言、宗教或習俗來分。A traveller can feel their own otherness in a new country旅人在一個新的國家可能會感受到自己的otherness; a film can play on the otherness of a stranger in a small town電影也可能利用一個陌生人在小鎮裡的otherness來做文章。

Though actually, it is a rather bookish word. Ordinary English is more likely to say “she felt so different” or “he didn’t belong.” Otherness turns up in essays, art writing, and university talk.

Though actually不過其實, it is a rather bookish word這是一個滿書面的字。Ordinary English is more likely to say "she felt so different" or "he didn't belong."日常英文比較會說「她覺得自己好不一樣」或「他不屬於那裡」. Otherness turns up in essays, art writing, and university talkOtherness則常出現在論文、藝術評論和大學裡的討論。

It does not mean “other people” as a group, and it does not mean “other things.” It names the feeling or the fact of difference itself.

It does not mean "other people" as a group它不是指「其他人」這一群, and it does not mean "other things."也不是指「其他東西」. It names the feeling or the fact of difference itself它指的是那種不一樣的感覺，或不一樣這件事本身。