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Selbstreflexion

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Die Suche nach einem Interviewpartner auf dem Rosenhof Markt gestaltete sich für mich in etwa so schwierig, wie erwartet. Ich besuchte den Platz an einem Dienstag um die Mittagszeit, mit der Folge, dass nicht sehr viele Leute unterwegs waren. Als ich ungefähr 15 Minuten auf dem Platz verweilte und nichts passierte, entschied ich mich dazu, ein wenig durch die angrenzenden Gassen zu laufen, in der Hoffnung, dass diese belebter waren. Meine Hoffnung wurde nicht enttäuscht und ich fand nach wenigen Minuten eine geeignete Interviewpartnerin, die wie sie erzählte, gerade auf dem Weg von der Uni nach Hause war. Ich war froh jemanden in meinem Alter gefunden zu haben, da die Überwindung eine Person anzusprechen, die deutlich älter ist als ich, definitiv größer gewesen wäre. Möglicherweise liegt der Grund dafür darin, dass ich von anderen Studenten eher erwarte, dass diese wissen, was es bedeutet in Projekten auf Hilfe angewiesen zu sein.

Während des Interviews lief alles reibungslos. Ich merkte jedoch selbst, wie ich ohne es vorher geplant zu haben einige der ‚Probing-Methoden‘ anwendete, von denen ich vorher gelesen hatte. Mit Hilfe des ‚Echo-Probes‘ gab ich mir beispielsweise während des Interviews selbst ein wenig mehr Sicherheit, da ich durch das Wiederholen des bereits Gesagten sichergehen konnte, dass ich auch alles richtig verstanden habe. Indem ich des Weiteren den ‚Uh-huh-Probe‘ nutzte, versuchte ich ebenfalls meinem Gegenüber zu signalisieren, dass ich Interesse an dem Thema habe und gerne mehr erfahren würde. Zudem nutzte ich, um an weitere Informationen zu kommen, den Tell-me-more Probe. Auch wenn meine Interviewpartnerin von sich selbst aus bereits viel erzählte, glaube ich, dass das unterbewusste Stimulieren durch verschiedene Probes das Interview zusätzlich verlängert hat. Das am Ende ca. 20-minütige Interview kam mir jedoch keineswegs zu lang vor und auch von meiner Interviewpartnerin gewann ich nicht den Eindruck, dass diese gegen Ende des Interviews weniger zu erzählen hatte.

Wenn es eine Sache gab, die mir im Verlauf des Interviews schwer fiel, dann war es meine eigene Meinung nicht einfließen zu lassen. Besonders als es um das Thema Gewohnheiten ging, die für Ausländer schwierig sind nachzuvollziehen, hätte ich gerne meine eigenen Erfahrungen geschildert. Nach dem offiziellen Ende des Interviews redete ich daher auch noch ein wenig weiter mit meiner Interviewpartnerin, da mich einige der Punkte, die sie nannte auch privat sehr interessierten. Überrascht war ich auch, dass sie einige Aspekte, wie das Feiern der Fastnacht genannt hat, von denen wir bereits zu Beginn des Seminares in Marius Risis Text erfahren haben.

Ethnografische Vignette

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Die Schweiz, das sind das Matterhorn, Schokolade und Schweizerdeutsch. Zumindest sind dies die ersten drei Worte, die meiner Interviewpartnerin einfallen, wenn sie an die Schweiz denkt. Dabei gibt sie selbst als „lebenslange Schweizerin“ zu, dass es sich eigentlich um relativ klischeemäßige Antworten handelt, die auch „Nicht-Schweizer“ geben könnten. Doch warum verbindet sie genau diese Wörter mit der Schweiz?

„Das Matterhorn ist ja schon irgendwie ein Wahrzeichen, das sehe ich ständig auf Postkarten, Schokolade ist unser Produkt und Schweizerdeutsch spreche ich schon immer.“

Als ich meine Interviewpartnerin nach ihrer eigenen Idee der Schweizer Identität frage, bezieht sie sich überraschenderweise direkt auf das Seminarthema ‚La Suisse n’existe pas‘. Für sie gibt es keine einzige Schweizer Identität, da das Herausbilden von Identitäten auch mit der Schweizer Geschichte zusammenhänge. Sie als ursprüngliche Freiburgerin, hat auch in ihrer zweisprachigen Heimatstadt öfter mal gemerkt, wie es beispielsweise in der Schule kaum einen Austausch zwischen deutsch- und französischsprachigen Klassen gab. Die Schweizer Identität hängt für sie aber nicht nur von den verschiedenen Sprachen, sondern auch von den Kantonen ab.

 „Weißt du, die Schweiz lässt sich ganz gut beschreiben durch den Kantönligeist.“

Jeder Kanton habe in gewisser Weise ziemlich viel Autonomie und könne vieles selbst entscheiden. Für sie findet das Denken somit eher auf kantonaler als auf nationaler Ebene statt. Dies zeige sich auch durch die vielen „Geistwörter“, wie beispielsweise „Kantönligeist“ oder „Bündli“. Gegenüber dem Ausland werde aber auch eine nationale Identität sichtbar.

„Gegenüber anderen sieht man sich immer als einzelnes Land, aber im Land dominieren dann die Kantönligeister. Ich glaube, auf nationaler Ebene sind wir dann auch Stolz auf die Demokratie und darauf ein so diverses Land zu haben.“

Eine typische Schweizer Gewohnheit ist für sie das Schimpfen auf die SBB.

„Die Schweizer wollen halt immer, dass alles nach Plan läuft. Wenn die SBB einmal Verspätung hat, sind alle direkt das Gegenteil von relaxed. Aber zum Beispiel die Leute in Bern. Denen sagt man nach, dass sie eher langsam sind und chillen. Da gibt es wieder Unterschiede.“

Als ich sie frage, ob sie auch selbst kulturelle Gewohnheiten hat, gibt sie zu, dass sie sich teilweise auch über den Schweizer ÖV aufregt, wenn mal etwas nicht klappt, da man es einfach nicht gewohnt sei. Da jedoch Züge nicht nur in der Schweiz zu spät kommen, kann sie schwer sagen, ob diese Gewohnheit das Schweizer sein widerspiegelt.

Gewohnheiten, die für Ausländer schwierig nachzuvollziehen seien, wären wohl die Tatsache, dass sie in der Schweiz eine andere Sprache sprechen als schreiben, in der Politik direkt abstimmen und an der Fastnacht einige Bräuche haben.

„In Freiburg verbrennen wir den Rababou. Das ist ein riesiger Strohmensch, der schlechte Geister vertreiben soll“

Und was glaubt sie, denken Fremde generell so über die Schweizer?

„Also wir könnten schon als ausländerfeindlich wahrgenommen werden, weil die SVP ziemlich laut gesagt hat, dass sie keine Einwanderer wollen. Aber auf der anderen Seite könnten wir auch offen wirken, weil viele Ausländer in großen Städten leben. Generell wirken wir aber glaube ich ähnlich zu den Nachbarländern, da es Gemeinsamkeiten in den Kulturen gibt.“

Methodenbesprechung und Anwendung

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Im Rahmen der Unterrichtseinheit ‚La Suisse n’existe pas‘ und Interviews sollte sich im Seminar ‚Switzerland for Incomings‘ mit der Vorstellung einer Schweizer Identität auseinandergesetzt werden. Der Ansatzpunkt, um genau jenes Thema detailliierter zu behandeln, liegt in der Idee, dass die Schweiz viel mehr Diversität aufweist, als das idyllische Bild des kleinen alpinen Landes vermuten lässt. Stellt man sich also die Frage, ob es die eine Schweizer Identität wirklich gibt und wie sich diese beschreiben lässt, so bietet es sich an, genau die Personen zu fragen, die jeden Tag mit Schweizer Gewohnheiten in Berührung kommen. In diesem Fall sollen Interviews, die am Rosenhof, einem kleinen Platz in der Nähe des Züricher Rathauses geführt werden, mehr Aufschluss über die Thematik geben und ggf. neue Dimensionen eröffnen.

Auf formaler Ebene lässt sich das von mir geführte Interview als qualitatives halbstrukturiertes Leitfadeninterview beschreiben. Der Begriff ‚qualitativ‘ steht in diesem Fall für eine Vorgehensweise, bei der bloß eine einzige Person interviewt wird, um einen möglichst differenzierten Einblick in die subjektive Weltsicht des Einzelnen zu erhalten. Bei einem halbstrukturierten Leitfadeninterview handelt es sich zudem um eine Interviewform, bei der strukturiert und kontrolliert aber nicht einschränkend vorgegangen wird. Im Gegensatz zum strukturierten Interview gibt es keinen festgelegten Interviewplan, der dem strukturierten Abarbeiten von Fragen dient, sondern lediglich einen Leitfaden zur Orientierung. Dieser hat den Vorteil, dass er Themenblöcke oder Fragen zwar vorgibt und somit eine effiziente Zeitnutzung ermöglicht, aber auch die Möglichkeit bietet, die Themenreihenfolge entsprechend des Interviewverlaufes zu ändern.

Auf inhaltlicher Ebene befasst sich das von mir geführte Interview mit der Schweizer Identität und typischen Schweizer Gewohnheiten. Der dazu gehörende Leitfaden und die konkreten Fragen wurden in zwei Seminarsitzungen gemeinsam im Kurs erarbeitet und führen von einer allgemeineren zu einer spezifischeren Ebene. Das bedeutet, bevor im Interview spezielle kulturelle Gewohnheiten einer Person thematisiert werden, wird beispielsweise nach Begriffen gefragt, die der Interviewte mit der Schweiz verbindet.

Als ich am Rosenhof Markt eine passende Person für mein Interview gefunden habe, war es besonders wichtig, diese über die Anonymität und Vertraulichkeit des Interviews zu informieren. Da ich mich persönlich nicht nur auf meine Erinnerung verlassen wollte und das Interviewgespräch mit dem Handy aufnehmen wollte, musste ich ebenfalls nach der Erlaubnis fragen. Zudem habe ich erwähnt, dass die Ergebnisse des Interviews lediglich im Rahmen unseres Seminares verwendet werden und auf einem Blog veröffentlicht, zu dem man nur mit einem Passwort Zugang hat. Ich habe meiner Interviewpartnerin ebenfalls angeboten, ihr die Blogposts zuzuschicken, sobald diese fertiggestellt sind.

Verwendete Literatur: Bernard, Russel (2011): Research Methods in Anthropology. Qualitive and Quantitive Approaches. Alta Mira Press, Lanham u.a., Kapitel 8 „Interviewing I. Unstructured and Semistructured”, 156-186.

 

Self-reflection – Emmalene Ng

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This was by far the most challenging assignment for me, as we actually had to approach someone on the streets and interact with them. I have carried out street interviews before, but those times I had an incentive to offer the survey respondents. Coupled with my inability to speak the main language here – German – I was rather worried prior to carrying out the interview. However, I was fortunate in that the first person I approached agreed readily to my request, and was extremely pleasant and helpful throughout. I am encouraged to go out there and talk more to people in the streets. I will probably not interview them, but simply engage in small talks and casual conversations to learn more about a country’s way of life through the locals.

During the interview, I also felt like I had the dual roles of a researcher trying to learn certain critical information, and an interested foreigner simply trying to learn more from a local. The former role required me to observe certain behaviour such as not making leading statements or interjecting the interviewee as she speaks. This was challenging, as the interaction would be more two-sided and organic in a regular conversation. Sometimes, I also had to stop myself from extending the conversation too far as I recalled what Bernard (2011) mentioned about having a purpose for the questions I ask. Some questions I had were borne more out of personal interest than research purposes; hence, they might not be very relevant.

When the interview concluded, my interviewee rather swiftly returned to her workplace. I noticed that I had enjoyed the conversation so much that I wasn’t aware of the time – it had lasted nearly six minutes (which is not much in general, but for someone with something else to work on, it could be quite a while). I then wondered whether she felt that the interview was too long at any point in time.

In the future, I hope to develop greater competence in carrying out such interviews such that they can be both personal and informative, and also to be sufficiently astute to detect the respondent’s opinion towards the interview and react flexibly.

Discussion and application of methods – Emmalene Ng

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I adopted a semi-structured interview style in completing this assignment. I followed the interview guide to ensure that the conversation achieved particular objectives, but also chipped in my own comments so that the interaction is more organic, and because I was genuinely interested to learn more.

I actually visited the market twice, but it was raining the first time and I thought that people wouldn’t be as keen to do an interview in such bad weather. However, I got to walk around the area and found it rather lively with the ongoing Christmas market. There were also several tourists. I wondered whether people would be willing to stop for an interview if they were midway to a destination or shopping, especially on such a lively street. Hence, when I returned the next day, I thought it might be easier to approach someone away from the main street where it’s quieter. Thankfully, I then came across my interviewee along a small alley.

I chose to approach people who were by themselves because I felt that their counterpart might otherwise influence them. I also targeted people who looked relatively young because, based on personal experience, the older generation might not be very proficient in English. I also chose to go in the day when it was still bright, as people are more likely to have their guards up at night. A voice recorder was used to capture the conversation but I was also careful to hold in in a rather inconspicuous position so that the interviewee wouldn’t feel too self-conscious. I referred to the questions from a notepad as I thought referring to them from my phone would remind the interviewee about the presence of a recorder. Afterwards, I also felt that the notepad added to my legitimacy of doing research. It also helps convey the impression that I am indeed a student rather than someone suspicious.

During the interview, I adopted several of the probing methods Bernard (2011) mentioned, such as the ‘uh-huh’ probe to encourage my interviewee in her sharing, and the ‘tell-me-more’ probe when I felt that her answers were vague. However, I was careful not to apply the latter probe too often so as not to appear too persistent or annoying, especially when it was clear that the interviewee wasn’t very certain of her answer too.

Ethnographic Vignette – Emmalene Ng

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I visited the area surrounding the Rosenhof Market at around 1415 on Tuesday, 11 December. Soon after arriving, I spotted a lady smoking along a small alley. I guessed that she worked at a nearby store and was taking a smoke break. I decided to approach her for an interview and she readily agreed.

She is a Swiss who hails from the canton of Zug but has lived in Zurich for 9 years. When questioned about the first few words that comes to her when she thinks of Switzerland, she mentions “fondue” and “mountains” as that is the “first impression”. These are typical external stereotypes associated with Switzerland, and perhaps she mentioned them rather than her personal unique experience (which I guess would be different) as I came across as a foreigner who didn’t know much about the country.

When questioned on her idea of Swiss identity, she said that it was difficult and wasn’t sure if it existed given the presence of many different cultures in Switzerland. She seemed to try to offer a suggestion in how the Swiss are “punctual”, but upon further probing, she also acknowledged that the mentality is varies slightly in different parts of the country, such as the German part and the Italian part.

On what she considered as typical Swiss customs, she suggested “schwingen”, a sport that is something like wrestling and mainly practiced in central Switzerland, such as in Lucerne and Schwyz. On the other hand, a cultural custom that she partakes in is climbing. A lot of her family members engage in it too. She thinks that there’s quite a big interest in the sport but is unsure whether that’s because she’s within the circle. She agrees that it might be due to presence of mountains, and shares that she climbs both indoors and outdoors. However, she doesn’t think climbing represents Swiss; she feels that things that are unique to Switzerland, like schwingen, is a better representation. It is interesting how she thinks that a uniquely Swiss sport better represents Swiss than a more international that has quite a large and active community within Switzerland too. I wonder if we tend to be rather traditional when it comes to issues of national identity, especially if we possess a strong national pride.

We then shifted to questions related to foreigners. She struggled to answer the question on customs that she thought might be difficult for foreigners to understand, and acknowledged that it’s hard because she’s here. She tried to suggest that maybe the music and dress (of traditional culture I believe) might come across as a bit strange, but also felt that this would arise in other countries too. On what foreigners thought about Swiss people, she shared that the Germans always say Swiss German is a “cute language” because Swiss people have an accent when speaking German.

Finally, when asked whether the interview has made her more aware of her identity, she laughed and said that “it’s strange to talk about it because I’m Swiss but I like it”. I sensed that it was slightly awkward, perhaps because she felt that it was difficult to answer negatively; to me, that was in itself a silent manifestation of Swiss culture – the politeness of people.

Discussion of Methods 3 – Jonathan Wulff

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For the third and final assignment for the course of Switzerland for Incomings we were required to first develop a short questionnaire of about ten questions in total. The theme of the questionnaire was developed in two group discussions in which we first collected ideas in smaller sub groups to eventually come altogether in order to develop a coherent set of questions to the topic chosen by the class. After some intense discussions we, as a group, decided to focus the research field of the questionnaire on the notion of “Swiss Identity” to find out how various pedestrians perceive Swiss culture and what they have to say about Swiss identity. After completing the set of questions together in class, we were required to conduct the survey individually at a distinctive location in Zürich, namely the Rosenhof Markt that is located in the heart of Zürich, close to the Sechseläutenplatz and the famous Zürich Lake. Hereby, it is important to mention that we decided as a group beforehand that the survey could be conducted both with Swiss citizens as well as non-natives who would spend some time in the country. To record the actual interview, I used my phone as tape recorder after making sure that my interview partner agreed with that. Before starting the interview, I also shortly elaborated on the reason and the purpose of the interview and ensured that the recorded data would be used anonymously and only within the realm of the class

The final task we were required to do was to transcribe the results of the interview in order to share them with our fellow students on the Switzerland for Incomings-Blog.

 

Ethnographic Vignette 3 – Jonathan Wulff

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I conducted my interview on a grey Monday midday asking a random pedestrian at the market. In the following, the questions of the survey are listed with the respective answer given by interview partner below every answer. The ethnographic vignette hereby, includes no comment of mine on the answers given by my interview partner. A short comment on the results as well as a description how I felt while conducting the interview follows immediately in the next section which is the self-reflection.

 

  1. Warm-up / introduction questions
  • Where are you from? Swiss/non-Swiss
  • Could you specify where? Kanton/ Place?

 

Canton Zürich/ Schönenberg  

 

  1. What are the first 3 words that come to your mind when you think of Switzerland?

Why do you connect these words with Switzerland?

 

 

 

Direct/ Indirect Democracy. Federalisms – Especially the form of direct democracy practiced in Switzerland is very unique

 

 

  1. What is your idea of Swiss identity?

 

Regarding the notion of Swiss identity, he was pointed out that Switzerland is the host of a number of many and extremely various cultures even though it is relatively small. Furthermore, he brought up the opinion that Switzerland is internationally recognized as an influential and powerful state which in his opinion also contributes to the formation of Swiss identity.

 

  1. What would you consider some typical Swiss customs might be?

 

Fastnacht in Central Switzerland and the area around Basel, Reiberlichtli-Umzug & Skiing

 

  1. What are some of the cultural customs that you do?

 

Privately he stated to be very engaged in a Drumline group. Therefore, he actively takes part in events like the Fastnacht & Reiberlichtli since he usually performs at festive processions with his group as a drummer. According to him he has a close connection to these events due to his mere fascination for the instrument.

 

  1. Do you think that these customs represent being Swiss?

Except for the Basel Fastnacht which is televised, he stated that in his opinion Swiss customs are more prominent on the regional level ad do not transcend into awareness of Switzerland that foreigners have.

 

  1. What customs do you think may be difficult to understand for foreigners?

 

He assumed that it might be difficult for foreigners to understand culinary customs, directly referring to Fondue. According to him it might be weird for foreigners to eat the cheese directly out of a pot. He added however that even within Switzerland, the cantons often have very individual customs that are even hard to understand for fellow Swiss citizens from other cantons.

 

 

 

  1. What do you think foreigners think of Swiss people?

 

His initial response was that foreigner probably often think of Cheese and Chocolate and that Switzerland is rather small. Furthermore, he stated the believe that especially foreigners who are not from Europe tend to confuse Switzerland with Sweden. Finally, he added that many people link Switzerland to its renown universities such as the ETH and the prominent banking sector.

 

 

 

  1. Has this interview made you more aware of your identity?

 

He stated that definitely every conversation creates more awareness of a certain topic. Nevertheless, he did not believe that this very brief talk fundamentally shifted any of his ideas or perceptions of Switzerland as such and his identity as a Swiss in particular

Self-Reflection 3 Jonathan Wulff

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As stated, I conducted the interview on a grey Monday while it was cold but no rainy weather. At the time I was at the Rosenhof Markt not much was going on and only few pedestrians were around. Regarding the Interview, it was no challenge for me to find an interested interview partner and approach him or her in the appropriate manner. Besides having the advantage of speaking fluent German, I have vast experience in interviewing strangers at unfamiliar places. This is because I worked in commercial marketing for more than four years during my time at school and afterwards. In my job I conducted interviews in the context of museum visits and art exhibitions as well as concerts and music festivals such as the German Hurricane Festival. Due to this Experience I conducted interviews before with groups of drunken teenagers as well as serious elderly art connoisseurs. Due to this experience I knew how to start the interview in a friendly manner and further conduct it efficiently.

What I personally find interesting that the perception of my interview partner regarding Swiss Identity is surprisingly similar to my own even though he is a native while I only spent a few months here learning about the country in some of my classes. I think that its especially noteworthy that the partner came up with a notion of Swiss identity that includes both deeper insights in regional culture that is strange to foreigners and even some other fellow Swiss as well as well as the typical aspects of Swiss culture that are known beyond Swiss borders. These would be especially the culinary culture including cheese, chocolate and fondue, things that we had discussed in the group before as stereotypical associations that foreigners have with Switzerland.

Furthermore, I think its noticeable that my interview partner mentioned the variety of cultures that are hosted in Switzerland. This is something realized myself while living here. Furthermore, it relates to the notion of La’Suisse n’existe pas, a topic of discussion within our classes.

Something I never thought about before was the comment he made regarding the perception of Switzerland by non-Europeans and the idea that some might confuse the country with Scandinavian countries such as Sweden.

 

Self-Reflection 3 – Maks Mashkivskyy

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– My interviewee was a Swiss Pedagogy Master Student – Carmen, whom I met through a friend of a friend – early in my exchange. She agreed to meet me at the Polyterrasse Bar BQM, and answer a few questions about her Swiss heritage and her understanding of the Swiss culture.
– When we first met, she was energetic and looked relaxed. Prior to me starting, she reinforced what she already mentioned multiple times – that she isn’t exactly across all Swiss cultural norms and traditions, but will help me nonetheless.
– I prepared a standard set of questions I was seeking to ask her, but otherwise intended for the interview to be informal and unstructured. In doing so I was hoping to raise interesting insights through the prepared questions, and then to sway away from the structured interview, to hone down on the insights by asking follow-up questions
– The first few prepared questions were very standard to get Carmen to relax and open-up more.
– When we started, she responded in single words or very brief sentences. This had me slightly nervous as we were burning through the first 5 standard questions I prepared in less than 3 min. „Where were you born?“, Which country do you live? How long have you lived in Switzerland for? What do you study? Do you enjoy living in Switzerland?
– To slow her down and get her to talk in more detail, I prompted Carmen with the question „do you want to elaborate on that?“
– The real jackpot occurred when she mentioned about her exchange experience in California during High School. I used this experience of hers to help her highlight the cultural aspects unique to the Swiss, having lived in another, drastically different culture for that long. I was hence trying to understand which elements of her exchange, delivered the greatest culture shock.
– Many times when reflecting over her exchange experience she mentioned she could not quiet remember – but my strategy was paying off. She began reflecting in elaborate details of her most vivid memories of the large cars or „trucks“ as the Americans refer to them, religiousness and conservatism, overconsumption, patriotism and lack of cultural awareness.
At this point, the interview was very informal and I began to sense she was opening up and being less formal then at the beginning of the interview. The overall conversation lasted about 25 minutes. I told Carmen I had enough and we both parted our ways.