LiteraturSchweiz

Reading tip

Rut Plouda, Sco scha nüglia nu füss: In ‘Wie wenn nichts wäre’ the Lower Engadine author Rut Plouda tells the story of the short-lived Joannes, she wrote this dialogue between narrator and child in Vallader (Rhaeto-Romance). Through memories, dreams, sounds as well as through a state adrift between reality and imagination the I creates the world of the you. All experiences are expressed in surprising images: On the day of his funeral Joannes is sitting cross-legged on the top of the roof, looking over the gathering of people, laughing. In a clear and lean language this work of prose deals with life and death, interlacing narration and memory. Like, for instance, in the nine fragments that are woven into the narration, carrying titles such as The Sailor, The Hunter, or Robinson. Here the narrator describes Joannes’ wishful thinking and thereby gives him a voice. ‘Wie wenn nichts wäre’ is many things: expression of a deep love and intimacy between mother and son, an unforgettable adventure, expression of respect on the part of the author for a extraordinary human being – for the magical world of Joannes. Rut Plouda herself had a son with down syndrome. This book has been translated into French, Romanian and German. In 2001 it received the Swiss Schiller Foundation Prize. (Bettina Vital, transl.by Anja Hälg)