ABSTRACT
At the dawn of industrial modernity, in late eighteenth century, a shadow lay over Europe. Sensitive artists and intellectuals described the atmosphere as an encounter with something fremd - foreign, strange, alien. The idea of alienation began to emerge towards the end of eighteenth century. The political authorities had condemned and banned these activities, but the elders of the parish did not agree with the clergy. While the clergy decided to lock the banners away, the elders insisted upon their traditional ceremony with banners and crosses as usual. In a broader perspective, it was in the second half of the eighteenth century that sensitive artists and intellectuals began to characterize life as controlled by something foreign, strange, or alien, introducing the concept of fremd into the cultural and social discourse. The philosophical and literary awareness of modern alienation did not develop in a linear way, but followed a discontinuous historical journey.
