The other world
- Strangeness and disconnection
- An indirect way of naming the other
- Demarcation line between two parallel worlds
- World of law and world of illusion
When we perceive that this or that person ‘is a world apart’, or when we talk about a way of ‘being in the world’ or ‘seeing the world’, what do we mean when we believe that we can ‘change the world’ or ‘dream of a better world’? Certainly, the word ‘world’ here does not refer to the most common meaning that designates our planet Earth, with its inhabitants and its more or less natural environment. We are talking about metaphors, which not only shape the way we speak, but also the way we see, think and understand things, insofar as truth can lie in the interpretation of reality.
By stating that ‘the world we live in depends on how we perceive it’, Arthur Schopenhauer emphasises that our view of the world is subjective and influenced by the way we think and feel. Thus, the interpretation we give to facts, relationships and life situations determines how we experience the reality around us.
For Shakespeare, ‘All the world's a stage’ and life is like a play, where people pass across the stage like actors, each making their entrance, each making their exit, playing different roles.
Julio Cortázar argued in his novel Rayuela that ‘the world does not exist, it must be created, like the phoenix,’ expressing a deeply creative and existential view of reality and human experience, in which the world, as we perceive it, is a subjective construction and must therefore be actively constructed through experience and creation. The reference to the phoenix emphasises the idea of rebirth and constant transformation, suggesting that each individual must create their own world from the ashes of previous experiences.
In the philosophical novel Sophie's World, author Jostein Gaarder explores the history of philosophy through a girl named Sophie. Her world is the universe of the great philosophers and ideas that have defined humanity, from Socrates to Sartre, a space of personal and philosophical discovery that invites the reader to question reality, knowledge and their own existence.
Strangeness and disconnection
The expression ‘the other world’ can have a pejorative connotation when used to describe something that is perceived as strange, exotic or different from the norm. This use can imply a sense of unfamiliarity or distrust towards what is considered foreign or unusual. This perception may reflect an attitude of exclusion or disapproval towards anything that does not conform to local standards or norms, as in the novel ‘The World is Wide and Strange’ by Peruvian author Ciro Alegría, which explores the lives of Andean peasants and their relationship with the outside world, a world that, although wide and immense, will always be foreign or strange to them. Although it offers many possibilities, for the indigenous community members it is too strange and hostile a place, due to the lack of belonging and security they feel as a result of the exploitation and dispossession of their lands by the landowners. The author highlights how the community is the only place where the peasants feel at home and protected, while the rest of the world is alien and dangerous to them.
When someone or something is described as 'otherworldly', it can mean that they are perceived as unusual, strange or difficult to understand. This expression can suggest that their characteristics, ideas, behaviours or perspectives do not conform to social norms or expectations. In this sense, ‘another world’ implies a sense of strangeness or unfamiliarity, as if the person operates in a reality different from that of others. However, it can also be used to highlight something positively exceptional, such as something impressive or amazing.
The concept of ‘world’ is frequently used by essayists and media personalities because of its breadth, flexibility, and symbolism. By intensifying several levels of existence in a single word, it allows them to abstract themselves from various ways of being and acting. When we say of someone that they are ‘from another world’ or ‘live in another world,’ especially in a mocking tone, it is a figurative expression that serves to emphasise a gap with reality or social norms, but also to mark an ironic distance between the person and common reality. The word ‘world’ here serves to exaggerate this gap by suggesting that the person lives almost in a parallel universe.
An indirect way of naming the other
In Morocco, the expression ‘the other world’ has become, in recent months, a key term in digital content circulating on social media. Diverted from its traditional meaning, this formula has become an implicit code for designating a neighbouring country, which is now rarely mentioned explicitly. Through this shift in meaning, internet users express a certain irony, a critical distance and even another way of perceiving their own identity in relation to ‘otherness’. This indirect way of naming the other reinforces the political and emotional charge of the expression, while revealing the linguistic creativity characteristic of Moroccan digital dynamics.
But how did the expression ‘the other world’ manage to infiltrate social media so quickly, to the point of becoming a viral, almost magical formula? How does this semantic shift make it possible to refer to a country, its regime, its politics and its official discourse without explicitly naming it? What does this poetic or mocking use of euphemism say about our relationship with otherness? And why does this expression, as vague as it is suggestive, seem today to better sum up a geopolitical or cultural reality than the simple proper name it replaces?
To answer these questions, we need to look at the national context in which this expression emerged in social media content in Morocco. A political context strongly marked by the royal speech addressed to the nation on the occasion of the 49th anniversary of the Green March, in which King Mohammed VI, emphasising the broad support for the autonomy initiative for the Sahara, stressed that 'Morocco has succeeded in consolidating a tangible reality and an irreversible truth, based on law, legality, commitment and responsibility,‘ before noting that ’parallel to this situation of legality and naturalness, there is, unfortunately, 'another world,' separated from the truth, which still lives on illusions of the past, clinging to certain theses that have been completely overtaken by time.
Demarcation line between two parallel worlds
Immediately after Mohammed VI used the phrase 'another world' a few months ago to refer to certain geopolitical factors disconnected from reality, the expression spread like wildfire on social media, becoming a recurring symbol not only to describe positions that seem out of time and out of place with regard to the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, but also to refer precisely to the key country in the management of the separatist agenda against Morocco.
A blogger posted a video of the city of Dakhla seen from the sky and titled it ‘A message to the other world.’ Another posted some relevant images of the capital of a neighbouring country under the title ‘Come and discover the other world.’ Yet another titled his post ‘Yuha's fables in the other world.’ A journalist writes about ‘what the TV in the other world says’. Content creators mobilise all their satirical and humorous potential to highlight flaws, paradoxes or ridiculous aspects of the neighbouring country, creating the most eloquent titles such as ‘News from the other world’ or ‘Comic scenes from the other world’ ‘Only in the other world’ ‘Scandals from the other world’.
Thus, we cannot understand the media's use of the phrase ‘the other world’ without taking into account the strong presence of royal discourse in the Moroccan public sphere, a discourse that largely structures representations of the nation, its unity and its higher interests. Only from this reframing discourse, which draws a clear line between two parallel and irreconcilable worlds, can we understand how this expression has been captured, reused and expanded by internet users, whether critically, ironically or satirically.
The expression ‘other world’ used by King Mohammed VI contains a profound metaphorical connotation that reveals the existence of two distinct and parallel realities. Its first meaning indicates a marked separation between the legitimate and internationally recognised reality of Morocco, based on law and compromise, and another reality, trapped in the illusions of the past and refusing to acknowledge current developments. In other words, it is not simply a matter of a difference of opinion, but of the existence of parallel ‘worlds’ that do not converge towards the same truth or position. As for the metaphorical meaning of ‘world’ in real discourse, it does not refer only to a material place, but to a completely different intellectual and political space, expressing a frozen or non-evolving state compared to the real world that Morocco knows and in which it operates. This use highlights a fundamental dimension of the discourse, insisting that the other party lives in a time or space disconnected from reality.
World of law and world of illusion
Through this expression, the King points out that the conflict over the Moroccan Sahara is a conflict between the ‘world of law’ and the ‘world of illusion’, reflecting the depth of the differences and lack of understanding between the parties, thus confirming the strength and legitimacy of the Moroccan position in the face of outdated positions that are not based on the current reality.
Belonging to ‘another world’ can mean that someone is trapped in the past. In this sense, King Mohammed VI's speech uses this metaphor to describe those who continue to demand a referendum in the Moroccan Sahara,, even though the UN has ruled out this option and it is considered impractical and definitively unworkable. Mohammed VI describes them as living in ‘another world’ separated from the truth, still living on illusions of the past and clinging to ideas that are disconnected from reality and outdated. The expression ‘another world’ in this context intensifies the sense of disconnection and strangeness.
Therefore, the use of the metaphor ‘another world’ in the royal speech is particularly apt, given that recent UN Security Council resolutions have described the Moroccan proposal for autonomy in the Sahara as ‘realistic, serious and credible’. This recognition implicitly implies that other approaches—in particular the separatist thesis promoted by Algeria—are not perceived as equivalent in terms of realism or viability. The metaphor in the actual discourse can therefore be interpreted as a way of subtly conceptualising this difference, without resorting to offensive language or the formal, codified language of diplomatic texts. The metaphor serves here to highlight a gap in perspective or rationality, as well as to clarify the respective positions in a firm but measured manner, exposing the deep divergence between the Moroccan and Algerian visions of the solution to this conflict, without unnecessarily fuelling tensions.