---
title: Lordships, cities, and cantons in Switzerland
tags: histoire, pensée computationnelle, enseignement,
description: Voir les dias avec le "Slide Mode".
---
# Lordships, cities, and cantons in Switzerland: how many actors and "motors" in the history of one's own country?
> ### Lyonel Kaufmann - HEP Vaud (Suisse).
> ### «Why History Education?». Digital Conference of the International Society for History Didactics (ISHD), 17 September 2021
---
Castelgrande, Bellinzone. Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/sergio_casciaro-3568738/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1787217">Sergio Casciaro</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1787217">Pixabay</a>
---
<!-- Put the link to this slide here so people can follow -->
Link presentation : https://monurl.ca/whyhistoryeducation
---
## Contents
1. Contextualization
2. Comparison probationary versus definitive teaching resources
3. François Walter, the new reference for a renewed national narrative? and which one?
4. Maps in the MER history textbook Grade 9
5. Conclusion : one or more History Master Narratives in the Chapter 12 : Seigneuries, villes et cantons en Suisse
6. Bibliography
---
## 1. Contextualization
### Furrer/Kaufmann (2020) : Conclusion (translation)
> *The new teaching materials in Switzerland's two language regions have succeeded in integrating the space of present-day Switzerland into history by expressing the processuality and episodic nature of nationality, by reflexively conveying national history as a meta-concept, by deconstructing myths rather than concealing them, by creating a link with Europe in the form of a transnational history, and (above all) by integrating the space of Switzerland into world history through reference to Europe. The extent to which the 'Europeanisation' of the narrative is also linked to old, canonised narrative forms with exclusionary functions is another question and an additional research element.*
---
---
## 2. Comparison probationary versus definitive teaching resources
---
### History textbooks of the canton of Vaud before the MERs: a report
Report concerning the Nathan collection (2011) :
> « Even though a more substantial part is devoted to Switzerland in the Histoire 8e textbook, the observation made about the Vaud history textbooks from the 1930s to the 1990s remains broadly unchanged. The Swiss history of the textbooks is always worked through successive refinements and results in a hypertrophy of the birth of the Confederation and its beginnings (forty-four pages). […] This collection of manuals continues to reposition Switzerland in the post-Cold War European context in an identical 'Us and the Others' dialectic.»
Translation Furrer/Kaufmann (2020)
---
### Sonderfall & Willensnation
Over the centuries, Switzerland has experienced both dark and bright times. [...] Almost always it was discord that caused its misfortunes. In the future, it will also have difficulties to overcome. It will only succeed in doing so through a constant effort of will by its citizens. Its strength will lie in the unity of all Swiss people.
Grandjean & Jeanrenaud (1941)
---
[Karin Keller-Sutter, Swiss Minister of Justice] said that "division cannot be the goal in our country" and that _"division is contrary to what we want to achieve"_. _Division is contrary to what Switzerland is all about: it is about finding solutions together - "together as diversity in unity"_.
Karin Keller-Sutter met en garde contre les clivages (24 Heures, dimanche 12.09.2021, 16h42)
---
### Comparison probationary versus definitive teaching resources
| MER Histoire 9e (probationary) | MER Histoire 9e (definitive) 9e and 10e |
|:--|:--|
| For each year of cycle 3, the MERs propose twelve themes linked to the Plan d'études romand (PER). The 9e Harmos teaching aids cover Antiquity and the Middle Ages and **only one chapter** is specifically dedicated to Swiss history and is entitled **'From the Helvetians to the Gallo-Roman'**. | For each year of cycle 3, the MERs propose twelve themes linked to the Plan d'études romand (PER). The 9e Harmos teaching materials cover Antiquity and the Middle Ages and **two chapters** are specifically dedicated to Swiss history. They are each placed at the end of the period concerned (Antiquity and the Middle Ages : chapter 5 **From Celtic to Gallo-Roman Helvetians** p. 60-75 and chapter 12 **Lordships, towns and cantons in Switzerland** p. 173-175 |
| In a new development in French-speaking Swiss schoolbooks, **the Pact of 1291** is no longer presented in the volume devoted to the study of the Middle Ages (9th grade), but after the chapter devoted to the birth of Switzerland in 1848 | For the Middle Ages, the pact of 1291 appears for the first time on page 158 in the timeline of Chapter 12. It appears a second time on page 169 in a sub-section entitled **"A network of alliances for protection"** in the form of a photographic document, an introductory text and an extract from the pact. This sub-section is integrated into the section of the chapter entitled **"Milestones for a Confederation"**. |
| | «On 1 August 1291, the communities on the Gotthard route (Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden) signed a mutual defence pact. The same communities entered into an alliance with the city of Zurich on 16 October 1291 and the city of Lucerne in 1293.» (Histoire 9e (p. 169) |
| In the MER 10e, the Pact of 1291 is considered not as a historical element, but as one of the elements in the construction of the identity of Switzerland after 1848, along with other founding myths such as William Tell, the Rütli meadow and Arnold von Winkelried. (Histoire 10e, p. 133) | In the *Histoire 10e*, the Pact of 1291 is considered not as a historical element, but as one of the elements in the construction of the identity of Switzerland after 1848, along with other founding myths such as William Tell, the Rütli meadow and Arnold von Winkelried. (Histoire 10e 10e, p. 133)
|**Summary** | **Summary**|
|Histoire 9e probationary : « Thus, for the first time in the history of official teaching materials in French-speaking Switzerland, the birth of modern Switzerland takes centre stage and breaks with the 'Sonderfall Schweiz' discourse of previous cycle 3 textbook collections. This is a major break. In addition, the textbook places Switzerland in a European perspective no longer as a singular identity, but as a case among others.» Furrer/Kaufmann (2021) | Histoire 9 definitive : the pact is reintroduced. Teachers can regain some familiarity with the old textbooks. However, it no longer 'sits' alone. The text of the manual associates it with a network of other covenants and alliances. |
---
### 3. François Walter, the new reference for a renewed national narrative? and which one?
### Histoire 9e (definitive teaching resources, translation p. 172)
> « The former Confederation was a conglomerate of territories with very different links and different purposes. It is far from an organically expanding space. Alliances are forged as circumstances change, as they can be dismantled and rebuilt on other bases.»
François Walter, Histoire de Suisse, « L’invention d’une confédération (XVe- XVIe siècle) », 2009.
---
---
> Disrupting certainties, adopting a reflexive point of view on events, necessarily requires that the narrative be selective in order to highlight ruptures, discontinuities, but also connivances, convergences and permanences.
François Walter, Histoire de Suisse, « L’invention d’une confédération (XVe- XVIe siècle) », 2009, p. 10
---
### The narrative outline of chapter 12 (from the main text p. 161 ff)
---
**Initial state: Around the year 1000, the territory that will later be called Switzerland is made up of small rural communities.**
Disruptive elements: insecurity (to ensure their safety)
**State of equilibrium 1: the populations put themselves under the protection of a lord.**
Disruptive element: development of towns
**State of equilibrium 2: these towns become real states called cantons while remaining under the authority of the German emperor.**
Disruptive element: These cantons clash with the interests of the House of Habsburg in the 14th century (p. 171).
**Final state of chapter 12**
These cities/cantons form a **Confederation** ('a conglomerate of territories with very diverse ties' p. 172). They met in a **Diet** (assembly of delegates) at the end of the 15th century. (p. 161). These cantons became a feared **military power** in Europe at the end of the 15th century (p. 171)
---
## 4. Maps in the MER history textbook Grade 9
### National master narratives: What, why, how —And where? (Parellada, Carretero & Rodríguez-Moneo 2020, 7)
---
MER Histoire 9e definitive, p. 158
---
> Figure 1 illustrates the dimensions and configuration of Argentinian territory at the beginning of the 19th century; however, the description of the space draws on the external and internal boundaries of present-day Argentina. […] The map, then, depicts the Argentinian nation as a constant historical subject and the national territory as a taken-for-granted, continuous space that has retained its essence historically despite interventions and transformations through the ages (Lois, 2014).
> […]
> This image reveals an essentialist representation of the territory, delineating Argentina’s current borders as if they had always existed […].
---
Michaud, G. (1939). *Histoire de la Suisse*. Lausanne [etc.]: Payot. Maps between p. 8-9
---
MER Histoire 9e definitive, p. 160
---
## 5. Conclusion : one or more History Master Narratives in the Chapter 12 : Seigneuries, villes et cantons en Suisse ?
### A renewed national narrative zaps the old one by translation
- moving the "effective" beginnings of the Confederation from the 13th to the 18th century
- the engine of these beginnings moves from rural communities to cities
- The Federal Diet of Switzerland replaces the the Landsgemeinde (or the *Rütlischwur*)
- Nicolas de Flüe replaces William Tell
> Very soon after their entry into the scene, Nicholas of Flüe and William Tell represent two currents, two options, two opposing parties in Swiss political thought, and Nicholas of Flüe will be mobilised as a kind of anti-Tell. (Rück, 1989, 26)
### Historical maps potentially reintroduce the old national narrative (potentially in association with other peritexts)
### The history of Western Switzerland as an alternative national narrative ?
### All made possible by a disintegration of the main text, leading almost to its total disappearance.
---
### Merci de votre attention ! :sheep:
Link presentation : https://monurl.ca/whyhistoryeducation
---
## 6. Bibliographie
Adam, J.-M. & Lugrin, G. (2006). Effacement énonciatif et diffraction co- textuelle de la prise en charge des énoncés dans les hyperstructures journalistiques. Semen, 22 | 2006. Dernière consultation le 16 septembre 2021 : http://semen.revues.org/4381.
Baquès, M.-C. (2003). «Mise en intrigue des manuels et évolution récente. Un éditeur, trois manuels et la période révolutionnaire». In M.-C. Baquès, A. Bruter, & N. Tutiaux-Guillon (dir.), *Pistes didactiques et chemins d'historiens : Textes offerts à Henri Moniot*. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan, pp. 87-106.
Carretero, M., Castorina, J. A., & Levinas, M. L. (2013). Conceptual Change and Historical Narratives About the Nation. A Theoretical and Empirical Approach. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), *International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change (2 ed.). New York: Routledge, p. 269.287.
Grandjean, H., & Jeanrenaud, H. (1941). Histoire de la Suisse II. Lausanne, [etc.]: Librairie Payot.
Furrer, M. & Kaufmann, L. (2020). „Mittendrin“ oder „aussen vor“? Fragen zur Gewichtung und Darstellung der Schweizer Geschichte in aktuellen Lehrmitteln aus der Romandie und der deutschsprachigen Schweiz. In Fink, N., Furrer, M., & Gautschi, P. (Eds.). (2020). *The Teaching of the History of One’s Own Country. International Experiences in a Comparative Perspective*. Frankfurt/M, Allemagne: Wochenschau Verlag, p. 124-151.
*Histoire 9e. Sciences humaines et sociales. Cycle 3. Livre de l'élève* (2019). Neuchâtel : CIIP, Conférence intercantonale de l'instruction publique de la Suisse romande et du Tessin.
*Histoire 10e. Sciences humaines et sociales. Cycle 3. Livre de l'élève* (2020). Neuchâtel : CIIP, Conférence intercantonale de l'instruction publique de la Suisse romande et du Tessin.
Kaufmann, L. (2016). Des manuels scolaires au service du Sonderfall helvétique (1911-2011). In *McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill*. Vol. 50, No 2/3 (2015), p. 321-340. Online : http://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9152/7086.
Lugrin, G. (2001). Le mélange des genres dans l'hyperstructure. Dernière consultation le 16 septembre 2021, publié le 30 avril 2007 à http://semen.revues.org/2654.
Michaud, G. (1939). *Histoire de la Suisse*. Lausanne [etc.]: Payot. Maps between p. 8-9.
Parellada, C., Carretero, M. & Rodríguez-Moneo, M. (2020). Historical borders and maps as symbolic supports to master narratives and history education. *Theory & Psychology*. 30. 1-17.
Rück, P. (1989). Guillaume Tell face à Nicolas de Flüe aux XVe et XVIe siècle. *Itinera, Fasc. 9. Histoire et belles histoires de la Suisse. Guillaume Tell, Nicolas de Flüe et les autres, des Chroniques au cinéma*, 23-51.
---
## Vous pouvez me trouver
- http://lyonelkaufmann.ch/histoire
- Twitter : https://twitter.com/lyonelkaufmann
- mon email : lyonel.kaufmann[at]hepl.ch
Sign in with Wallet
Connect another wallet