Bookshelf

Guy Mettan, Christophe Büchi, "Dictionnaire impertinent de la Suisse", Eds. Slatkine, 2010

Guide humoristique - et des fois sarcastique - de la Suisse, de A comme Aar à Z comme Zwingli.

Comment franchir le Röstigraben sans tomber dedans? Comment aimer Zurich quand on vient de La Chaux-de-Fonds? Comment époser une Bernoise quand on est né à Lausanne? Faut-il boire le café fertig avec du kirsch ou de la damassine? Quelle est la difference entre la youtze et le yodel? Le Conseil fédéral est-il vraiement formé de Sept Sages?

Ces importantes questions tourmentent Guy Mettan et Christophe Büchi depuis trente ans. Ils ont arpenté la Suisse de Genève à Romanshorn et de Bâle à Chiasso pour tenter d'y répondre. Vous découvrirez le fruit de leurs recherches sous la forme de ce dictionnaire impertinent qui, à la mannière de Flaubert, recense les idées reçues qui font la Suisse et qui la rendent, à leurs yeux, à la fois unique et irremplaçable.

Voir ici la critique de Nasha Gazeta.ch

About the author

Nadia Sikorsky

Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.

In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.

After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.

Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin (more than 35 years in Europe, 25 years spent in Switzerland) with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world at the international level. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.

Events
Simone Weil
Arabella
Marshall
Most read
"Rays and Shadows". Without Retouching or Illusions

What can one expect from a film about real people whose fate we already know? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Over three and a half hours, the viewer follows the protagonists of Rays and Shadows, Xavier Giannoli’s latest film, along the road to hell paved with good intentions, or, more precisely, along the path from the pacifist illusions of the post-war period to active collaboration during the Nazi occupation of France.

Bright Colours of “Invisible Men”

Kunsthaus Zürich presents the first survey exhibition in Switzerland of the contemporary American artist Kerry James Marshall, organised in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.