Béatrice Durand. Cousins par alliance: Les Allemands en notre miroir. Paris: Editions Autrement, 2002. 211 S. EUR 18.95 (broschiert), ISBN 978-2-7467-0238-7.

Reviewed by Christelle Le Faucheur (Department of History, University of Texas at Austin)
Published on H-German (September, 2005)

A French Look at the Germans, and Vice Versa

The title of the volume ("Cousins by Alliance, Germans in Our Mirror") indicates the relationship between French and Germans, at least as experienced by the French author. Based on personal observations, this book made me react on an equally personal level. I share a similar experience with the author. Born and raised in France, we both divide our lives, times, and affections between our native country, France, and Germany, with a little detour through the United States. These experiences give us unusual insights as we are often sitting between two, or even three chairs, becoming outsider and insider, critical and appreciative of each country.

While my first reaction was to check the accuracy and relevance of Durand's observations, my focus shifted to the usefulness of this book for non-French and non-German readers. Thanks to her engaging tone, Batrice Durand achieves her goal of introducing the reader to present day German and French cultures. She acknowledges the "humility of her attempt" and the choice of seemingly "futile examples" which might make "serious historians and politologues smile." But she convincingly proves throughout her book that these very concrete examples are indeed "the flesh of existence" and for this very reason are "little bits of history" (p. 23).

But this book is more than just a series of informative vignettes about German and French culture. Durand has foremost a French audience in mind and her book is a reaction to the abundance in France of "historicizing representations" that depict Germans in stereotypical terms--particularly in light of their national socialist past. Critical of and vehemently opposing this (not so recent) trend, Durand intends to offer a "diachronic view" of German culture though an ethnographic "participatory observation" (p.15), focusing on common denominators, instead of "social, regional or professional specialization" (p. 22). In addition to the refutation of the usual simplistic essentialism, Durand implicitly offers her theory of an essential German characteristic that differentiates Germans from their French cousins. According to the author, the Germans have a specific conception, understanding and valuation of the self (le soi), which, she argues, explain their pedagogical, professional, political, and social behaviors. This theory forms a thread throughout the book and Durand delineates German culture through her experience of what she considers the most important vectors of acculturation: school, family life, and work.

Logically, Durand starts her-three part book with the topic of education. The German educational system is more centered around the child, and at the same time more protective and "less directive," concerned about not destroying the childhood in the child. This is a concern unknown to the French, who see in the child the future adult and project adult expectations upon her. Durand illustrates this claim through concrete examples of parental choice of different types of Kindergarten, of the ceremony accompanying the Einschulung (first day of school), of the institution of the Hort (a place where children can spend their after-school afternoons) and of the different ways of grading and teaching. She connects these to broader social behaviors, showing how in Germany education has had and still has a very strong political and historical dimension. Education has a strong link to participatory democracy and collective life and illustrates a concern with everyone's individuality (p. 72). Thus, Germans are more consensual, more dedicated to the effective functioning of the group, while at the same time being more individualized and more autonomous. These features are evident in the way Germans deal with social conflicts. Their readiness to compromise for the sake of the good functioning of the group differentiates them fundamentally from the French, who present more characteristics of an "authoritarian personality," described by Adorno as the demand for an external authority (p. 86). Deepening her argument that German society is concerned about the construction of the individual, Durand shows how in Germany, as in the United States, study retains an existential character, in the sense of being not solely focused on acquiring a diploma but rather focused on one's personal development.

Durand develops this idea of a specific valuation of the self in the second part of her book, entitled le souci de soi, the care of oneself, where she explains German "individualism." Unlike the French, who understand the word as manifesting itself in insubordination, provocation, and disregard for rules (such as running red lights or not wearing seat belts), for Germans individualism is about "the relationship to oneself, aiming at an ideal of a rich and balanced life, which is autonomous and responsible" (p. 99). While the French see work as a way to ensure social position, the Germans hope to achieve personal accomplishment. Durand focuses on this aspect, hoping to debunk some tenacious clichs about the industrious Germans. The Germans strongly separate work from free time, which they value more highly than the French. They devote their free time to domestic and familial life, but also to activities enabling personal fulfillment such as amateur activities, cultural and musical, sports and participation in numerous associations. Here again the word Bildung with its multiple meanings exemplifies the broader concept of education, of a specific German "culture of the self" (p. 110).

In a smart move, Durand links all the previous elements to tackle her next topic: the family. According to the author, the Germans' reluctance to form large families is explained by their awareness of the costs involved with children, not simply financial aspects, but existential ones. Concerned about the well-being of every newborn, aware of the time, money, and engagement required in a society that considers education in the family more important than state education, Germans, in an attempt to reconcile what they owe to themselves and what they owe to their children, decide to have small families (p. 114). Compared with French attitudes and politics about families and women's roles, Durand shows that in Germany the emphasis by the media and politics on parental responsibilities has negative effects on women, who find it more difficult than French women to reconcile their familial and professional lives.

Durand gives further examples of German individualism, such as the private appropriation of public space, as illustrated by the way Germans personalize their work place, or, when they extend and link this individualism and pursuit of personal fulfillment to broader fields, as exemplified by their feeling of responsibility for public spaces and public matters. Another field she explores is the interest in "body and soul techniques" such as anthroposophy. For Durand, the Germans' endorsement of numerous alternative medicines, their honoring of pregnancies and deliveries, the importance of birthday celebrations in their lives, are further illustrations of the importance of the individual.

The last part of the book, soi et les autres, explores the relationship between individuals and society. Durand provides examples of neighborly relations, of standards of politeness and small talk, of civility, of rules on proper address to show further how German society is geared towards privileging the common interest, while respecting the individual in a way antithetical to French customs. The last two chapters show how this attitude has expanded into the geopolitical field, where Germans are not only more active than their French cousins in domestic politics, but also get more involved in environmental and third-world development projects.

In addition to providing a sensible, sympathetic, though not uncritical, portrait of German society, Durand offers an insightful view of French attitudes and mentalities. The comparison between reactions to the issues of how to deal with dog-droppings on city streets, scoff-laws on public transport, and the proper way to stand in line, while at time bordering on clichs, not only inform the reader about German mentality but also effectively foregrounds French character. (One wishes that the witty Annette Gerlach, who wrote the afterword, would write a similar book about her experiences as a German journalist among the pesky French).

The strengths and weaknesses of Durand's approach both lie in the narrowness of her experience. As an upper-middle class, academic, heterosexual woman, she gives us an account of upper-middle class, academic, heterosexual German lives--leaving out several points that might have been treated. Although she protects herself in her introduction by stating that her picture of Germany will be at best incomplete and stresses the impossibility of providing a homogenous image of Germany, it would have been helpful to at least mention those "minorities" to give a more complete picture of the society explored. For example, her treatment of issues of gender and the position of women is instructive and challenging, but she never discusses the hotly debated issues of same-sex union or marriage, which both France and Germany have been confronted with and have settled in their own respective ways. The attitudes of both the general public and lawmakers might have debunked (or confirmed) some clichs and expanded our understanding of these countries. In reading the book, I also noticed the effect of my North American education, in that I expected at least some mention of race. In France as in Germany the question of immigrants is an explosive topic, with both countries having some of the highest immigrant populations in Europe. This issue not only fuels right-wing movements and destabilizes governments, but the Islamic faith of many immigrants also challenges existing religious and social standards. The absence of any discussion of religion is the biggest lack in Durand's book, especially when dealing with Germany, a country where the separation of church and state is not as clear and adamant as in France and where a significant proportion of the associations so important for the pursuit of personal fulfillment for Germans are affiliated with churches.

As she mentions in her conclusion, Durand's observations might already be dated, given that her experiences span more than fifteen years. But despite some slow changes that have indeed occurred, Durand's book remains an accurate and informative (if incomplete) description of contemporary France and Germany. I was originally afraid that the topic would be too Franco-German to be accessible to "outside" readers, but Durand effectively addresses gaps for such audiences as well. A minimum of knowledge and personal contact and experience with German and French people will make the reading more enjoyable and enhance some of the author's arguments. And yes, serious historians may smile, but it will hopefully be a smile of fondness and understanding after reading about these (not so strange) European customs.

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Citation: Christelle Le Faucheur. Review of Durand, Béatrice, Cousins par alliance: Les Allemands en notre miroir. H-German, H-Net Reviews. September, 2005.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10865

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