The Homecomer Alfred Shuetz Analysis

“The Homecomer,” by Alfred Schuetz, examines the varying point of views of the man left behind and the man who is absent from his homeland. Schuetz identifies obstacles individuals and society face when an individual attempts to reintegrate into a community they once belonged to, which has since built various systems of pseudo-types that can never be eliminated entirely. Schuetz uses the example of the United States veteran returning from war to highlight the differences between each the homecomer, the stranger, and the community. Through contrasting the stranger and the homecomer, Schuetz discerns that in order to comprehend the homecomer and his experiences, the pseudo-type of the homecomer must be replaced by his unique-individual experiences
This key concept is established at the beginning of the article to differentiate between homecomer and stranger. But how can one distinguish between the two? Schuetz argues that the stranger is unfamiliar with everything, in an unfamiliar situation where he is considered an outsider but wishes to become an insider. Whereas the homecomer anticipates his return to his homeland, and believes previous knowledge will help him grasp his bearings upon his return. The homecomer returns to an old situation, believing they remain an insider within the in-group however this is not the case. Here, Schuetz contends that when one is gone for a period of time they too transform into a stranger to their homeland upon returning because their memories are reshaped by new experiences, and their homeland has changed in their absence. This unavoidable change results in the homecomer returning to a place that is foreign to them even though everything may appear familiar. Consequently, due to altered memories and perceptions of former experiences the homecomer is no longer a member of the in-group and is akin to the ‘stranger’ Schuetz defines. Existence for the person who never leaves their homeland is characterized as stable and routine. The in-group does not look for new solutions to old problems because there is no need to establish or redefine a solution that has been used routinely and many times over. Schuetz recognizes the home as a way of controlling the in-group belonging to it. Since home consists of a routine and organized pattern, goals and the means to achieve these goals through mastering daily life by following the pattern of the in-group, is a ramification. According to Schuetz, this results in conformity within the in-group. This conformity is problematic to the man who has left home because upon his return, if he so wishes to return, he will no longer fit in with