Film Review: The Swissmakers (Die Schweizermacher)
Posted in conjunction with the course Multicultural Germany in fall semester 2015. Author: Karla Palos The 1978 film Die Schweizermacher (The Swissmakers) is a good cop/bad cop comedy directed by Rolf Lyssy which dramatizes the bureaucratic exchanges between immigration officials and immigrants applying for Swiss citizenship. The film focuses on two officials: Walo Lüönd, who plays […]
Abstimmung über Minarettbau in der Schweiz
Die Schweizer haben sich gegen Minarette entschieden: Spiegel Online: Schweizer stimmen gegen Minarettbau Swiss Minaret Ban Reflects Fear of Islam, Not Real Problems Europas Rechte bejubeln Minarett-Verbot Erste Proteste gegen Schweiz: Islamische Welt entsetzt über Minarett-Verbot Gegenbewegung: Tausende Schweizer demonstrieren gegen Minarettverbot Minarettverbot: Fatih Akin sagt Schweiz-Premiere ab Die Zeit: Schweizer Referendum: Mit dem Rücken […]
Switzerland and its Past: An Uncomfortable Relationship
Roger de Weck Download PDF Abstract: This lecture was originally delivered at the University of California, Berkeley, on November 10, 2008. It addresses Switzerland’s asylum policies during the Second World War, as well as its relations with Apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. The author argues that Switzerland must accept responsibility for its […]
A Fine Self-Deception
Roger de Weck Translated by Ted Dawson Download PDF Abstract: Originally published in German in the SonntagsZeitung, October 28, 2008. Acknowledgments: Translated from the German by Ted Dawson People and cultures have a tendency for selective memory. They forget much of what they’ve done or undergone. They hold onto the convenient, embellish the mediocre, and […]
Switzerland: Advertising a Strange Case
Iso Camartin Download this article as a PDF. Abstract: This lecture was originally delivered at the University of California, Berkeley, on November 18, 2008. Its thematic focus is on multilingualism and cultural diversity in Switzerland. It also addresses political and cultural loyalty, modern survival strategies in economically marginal regions, and cultural priorities in a globalized […]
Bumperfatscha
Iso Camartin Translated by Kurt Beals Download PDF Abstract: Originally published in German in Iso Camartin, Die Deutschen und ihre Nachbarn: Schweiz (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2008). Acknowledgments: Translated from the German by Kurt Beals. We don’t just sit down at the table and dig in. Good manners require that we speak to one another before […]
Plea for a Mobile Identity
Hugo Loetscher Download PDF Abstract: This lecture was originally delivered at the University of California, Berkeley, on December 4, 2008. It focuses on the conception of identity from both a Swiss and an international perspective, debating the conflict between personal, national and global identity on the basis of personal experiences. The focus is on variation […]
If the Good Lord were Swiss
Hugo Loetscher Translated by Rafaël Newman Download PDF Abstract: Originally published in German in Der Waschküchenschlüssel, oder, Was-wenn Gott Schweizer wäre (Zurich: Diogenes, 1983). Acknowledgments: Translated from the German by Rafaël Newman. What would it be like if the Good Lord were Swiss? The question is not as idle as you might think, given one’s […]
Switzerland, a Country of Paradoxes: An Interview about Swiss Identity, Politics and Culture with Hugo Loetscher, Roger de Weck and Iso Camartin
Jeroen Dewulf, Kezhen Feng, Susan Hunsicker, and Andrew Tweed Download PDF Abstract: The following interview was compiled from conversations with Hugo Loetscher, Roger de Weck and Iso Camartin during their visits to Berkeley in Fall 2008. The three authors took part in the lecture series “Multicultural Identity in Europe: The Swiss Model.” The series was […]