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Ruth Dreifuss, Interviewee 
David Applefield, Interviewer
Frank Presidential Interview Series
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photo: Swiss Ministry of Culture |
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Frank: It is difficult to understand the complexities of contemporary Swiss culture outside Switzerland. As Minister of Culture, which Switzerland or Switzerlands do you wish to present or promote internationally? How do you view a country of such cultural and linguistic diversity?
Dreifuss: Culture is an important and largely uncontroversial value in Swiss society. The fact that we have three national and four official languages respectively in Switzerland makes it even more important. These languages represent different cultural areas which in turn overlap with those of other European peoples. Far from wanting to homogenize its discrete linguistic blocs, Switzerland wants to preserve their distinct identity, while at the same time promoting more cultural exchange and greater tolerance of other cultures, whether in Switzerland or elsewhere. I am particularly anxious to foster exchange programmes involving the various cultures that exist within Switzerland. Yet the state can never be more than a facilitator and sponsor. It must not interfere or presume to define what is good or bad. There is no such thing as official culture in Switzerland! Cultural exchanges between Switzerland and other countries are not only a source of vitality, but are also enriching for both Switzerland and its partners. Countries which do not cultivate cultural contacts with foreign cultures cannot develop. Whenever Swiss artists have an opportunity to show both their own creativity and originality and Switzerland´s heterogeneity abroad, this helps promote Switzerland´s overall image too.
Frank: What challenges are you faced with as both Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Culture? Do these portfolios clash or complement each other? You are probably the only minister in the world to hold both jobs at the same time.
Dreifuss: I like to call the Ministry of Home Affairs "le departement de la vie quotidienne": In other words, it concerns itself with every aspect of people´s daily lives. Everyone in our country is bound to come into contact at some point in their lives with such home affairs ssues as social security, health, education and research, equal rights and culture. Of course it is not always easy to juggle all these things at once, although many of them actually complement each other. Culture is obviously an integral part of this wide range of issues and that for two reasons--firstly because it is always a good idea to remember that man cannot live from bread alone, and secondly because culture is a good antidote to the ´every man for himself´ mentality which is the main threat to social cohesion.
Frank: What, in your view, is the role of the writer in Swiss society today? And elsewhere in the world?
Dreifuss: Octavio Paz once said that a writer is not "the representative, the deputy or the mouthpiece of a class, a country, or a church." This was his indirect response to the claim that literature has a social function. Literature can of course mean resistance, defiance or interference in politics or it may even seek merely to draw attention to a certain situation. Among the most famous contemporary examples of such politically-aware writers are Guenter Grass, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Nadine Gordimer, or in Switzerland writers such as Max Frisch, Friedrich Duerrenmatt, Alice Rivaz and Peter Bichsel.
This kind of "interference" is reflected in the wide range of topics Swiss literature addresses, including the integration of immigrants, the country´s role in modern Europe and economic developments--both good and bad. It also grapples with history--national and/or private history--and with the writer´s own direct experience of life. One leitmotif of 20th century Swiss literature, namely what Karl Schmid called the Unbehagen im Kleinstaat or "the disquiet of life in a small state," has frequently been analysed in great depth. Switzerland is depicted as narrow-minded, provincial, egocentric and greedy--a jaded view which has driven many an artist to flee across the border. At the same time, Switzerland has often provided a refuge for authors who can no longer live safely in their own countries. Even today, many of the books published in Switzerland are written by authors who are not Swiss, meaning there is a kind of imported political dimension to our culture as well.
Frank: Do writers and artists have social responsibilities going beyond those of the average citizen?
Dreifuss: It would be unfair to expect more of our writers and artists than of anyone else. After all, their most important job is to be creative. The fact remains, however, that what makes many works of art so special is the way in which they expose certain social and political developments. Writers and artists function as the extremely sensitive seismographs and communicators which society simply cannot afford to do without.
Frank: But is it really the job of the Swiss government to support arts and culture? I am sure you are aware of how limited the role of the U.S. government is when it comes to the arts. How does this contrast with the Swiss concept of state-sponsored culture?
Dreifuss: It is the job of the federal government to support culture, mainly by financing specific projects and individual artists. Pro Helvetia is an independent foundation set up precisely for this purpose. The most far-reaching support, however, is that provided at local level, by Switzerland´s municipalities and cities, which provide funding for theatres, orchestras, museums and the like. Then there are the efforts of the cantonal governments, to say nothing of various patrons and sponsors. The Federal Office of Culture is responsible for arts administration at the national level, which basically means providing support for a number of umbrella organizations as well as being involved in the preservation of the country´s national monuments and listed buildings and in the promotion of Swiss cinema. Plans to give the state greater resources and powers with which to promote the arts have twice been rejected--once in a 1986 referendum and again in 1994. Where Switzerland is concerned, therefore, the term ´state-sponsored´ has to be interpreted in a very federalist sense.
Frank: As a native French speaker, do you find it particularly challenging having to spread your official attention equally among Switzerland´s four cultures?
Dreifuss: I may be a native speaker of French, but my parents originally came from German-speaking Switzerland and I myself worked in an Italian-speaking area for a while and enjoy travelling to all parts of the country. I would also like to add that I live in a neighbourhood in which over 100 different nationalities live together in peace and harmony. As Minister of Culture, I greatly appreciate this diversity and enjoy visiting cultural events in all kinds of places.
Frank: How does your particular background add to your understanding of your job--in terms of language, culture, religion and gender, for example?
Dreifuss: Without any doubt the fountain of my political action is to be found in my experience of exclusion: as a woman involved in politics and the trade union movement, French-speaking, of Jewish origin, I have first-hand experience of what it means to be in a minority.
Frank: Can you tell us something about gender in Swiss culture? Do Swiss women have to contend with any particular disadvantages--or advantages even? What have they contributed to Swiss art and literature? Does tradition have a stabilizing effect on society or is it an obstacle to the evolution of creativity?
Dreifuss: While not every female author in Switzerland can expect either the Europe-wide renown of a Germaine de Stael or the enduring success of a Johanna Spyri, it would be equally wide of the mark to describe women´s writing in Switzerland as ´The Language of Silence´--which was the title of a recent American dissertation on this subject. Women writers can now avail themselves of an infrastructure tailored to their specific needs, meaning bookstores and libraries for women´s literature, women´s publishers and publishing houses headed by women, such as the Editions Zoe and Editions Metropolis. There are conferences on women´s literature, exhibitions and networks enabling women writers and readers to communicate. But what is true of other countries also holds true for Switzerland: No matter whether you are a man or a woman, the purpose of writing is to be read, if possible by both men and women.
The history of literature written by Swiss women over the past 70 years is the history of their emancipation from conventional patterns of thinking. Even in the late 1930s, there were authors in French-speaking Switzerland such as S. Corinna Bille, Catherine Colomb, Alice Rivaz and Monique Saint-Helier who worked professionally and were not afraid to venture into new literary terrain. And the more the role of women in Swiss society has changed, the more the existence of female writers has become a matter of course. These days, Swiss literature would be inconceivable without our women writers, who after all account for about one third of all the regularly published authors whose works are read, discussed and reviewed.
Frank: Much of the international news about Switzerland just recently has been concerned with its role in history and above all its institutional conduct during World War II. As both Culture Minister and Home Affairs Minister, you must be particularly sensitive to these questions of historical fact and public image. Do you have either an official or indeed a personal view (or both) as to how Switzerland should clean up its image, and can the dissemination of Swiss art and literature help change the way the world views Switzerland?
Dreifuss: Despite all the doubts and insecurity to which this process might have given rise, I myself view our grappling with the period 1933 to 1945 and the post-war years primarily as an opportunity.
It is an opportunity for us to face what happened head on, and to analyse and explain the causal relationships. Switzerland is being called upon to remember its past and this is a job not only for our politicians, but also for our schools, our universities and our political organizations too. Yet it is also an eminently literary process. While what the past tells us and teaches us undoubtedly belongs both in the history books and in the reports of the various special international expert commissions set up to examine this period, it also belongs in works of literature, which depict, condense and elucidate the past on quite a different level from history per se, as well as exposing possible causes and missed opportunities. Literature can indeed make a significant contribution to the battle against racism, intolerance, discrimination and violence just as it can proactively promote the principles of democracy, tolerance and respect for human dignity. One of the jobs of cultural policy is to ensure that such efforts are publicized abroad too, especially via the channels opened up by cultural exchange programmes and dialogue.
Frank: Perhaps you can point us to some of the most interesting cultural projects that Swiss artists have worked on, or are working on now, with or without your ministry´s support?
Dreifuss: Two highly acclaimed exhibitions of works by Pipilotti Rist in Hamburg and New York came about without any financial assistance from the federal government, but with our intensive and on-going support. This kind of intensive co-operation with the federal government has also borne fruit in an edition of art books by the graphic artist, Lars Mueller, which have also reaped international praise.
Particularly worthy of mention is the Tate Modern in London, which was designed by the Swiss architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who have since received the Pritzker Prize for this project. Another important project by a group of Swiss artists is an exhibition devoted to the work of the internationally renowned art magazine "Parkett" and its various editions, now on show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Frank: And what are your cultural priorities?
Dreifuss: They include safeguarding and promoting freedom of artistic work. When it comes to art and design, this is done as follows: The federal government invites young artists and designers to submit their work to two competitions in which they have a chance to win a prize of up to CHF 25,000. Even more important than the money, however, is the prestige and recognition the prize-winners stand to gain. Some 30 such prizes a year are awarded for art, and a further 25 for design.
The federal government also sends artists and designers to important international exhibitions, where they are given an opportunity to incorporate their work into Switzerland´s official stand or pavilion. The federal government selects the artists and designers in question and co-operates with them on the exhibition concept as well as the organization, financing and execution of the stand or pavilion. The most important international exhibitions to which Switzerland makes an official contribution are the Art Biennale and Architecture Biennale in Venice, the Art Biennale in Sao Paulo, Sydney and Cairo, the Quadriennale for Theatre Decor in Prague and the Design Triennale in Milan. The federal government also organizes its own exhibitions on specific topics of relevance to contemporary art and design. Artists and designers are invited to present their works at these exhibitions, which are shown both in Switzerland and at important centres of art and design in other countries too.
Frank: To close, we would be interested in knowing what you, on a purely personal level, enjoy reading? What are you reading now, for example, and which books do you keep on your bedside table?
Dreifuss: There would be no room for all my bed-time reading on a bedside table. I live and sleep surrounded by books--books of all kinds and in five different languages. So all I have to do is to reach out and grab whatever happens to take my fancy--whether it be poetry, fiction or history or even a comic or technical literature. Were I to name any one particular book or author, I would inevitably risk devaluing all the rest. If pushed, however, I would have to say that my current favourite is Harry Potter. 
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