I've been in
Switzerland for only a few weeks now and, quite apart from the mass
totality of daily impressions and new expressions, I've had just
enough time to anticipate the Bundesfeiertag,
Swiss National Day of
August 1. How do the Swiss celebrate their country? What public
displays and private sentiments are observable? Are Swiss like
Germans? Americans? Neither nor? One thing about being in Zürich
(and environs) is how evident history is; one can't help but notice
the Middle Ages here, and ask questions about entire expanses of time
that are here confronting you on the street. In Basel the Roman ruins
of Kaiseraugst are not the
slightest bit out of place from the farm land and towns surrounding
them. The continuity makes these links through time seem fresh, and
the uniqueness of Switzerland makes them conspicuous. It is nearly
impossible to imagine Switzerland producing a writer like Patrick
Modiano, writing sentences like “... I fear that, as in all
suburbs, houses and streets will have changed beyond recognition,”
as Switzerland has a claim to an extraordinary record of
uninterruptedness, and growth of the very slow sort. Such
self-assured stability could lead to any number of expressions of
national identity. National days can bend towards pride and
prejudice, or p.c. pomp, or shoulder-shrugging barbecues. What
dominates in Switzerland in 2015, to a new set of eyes?
