DOMINIQUE SCHNAPPER
233
tion of the world, whereas the French, although they come out on
the left, are seen as being sort of cynical and postmodern and
neoconservative . I'm just curious - I don't want to draw on our com–
mon affiliation as sociologists too much, because it would leave out
other people - but what would be your reaction to that?
Dominique Schnapper:
I'm not absolutely sure . Your question is about
the Germans rediscovering the kind of Marxists like Habermas.
We're discovering Habermas now, because Habermas has been
translated rather late . When I told you that the top intelligentsia
have stopped being Marxist, of course it's not that simple; there are
still a lot of Marxists . What I meant is that there is something new,
in the fact that you can be non-Marxist. And it is very funny,
because some people are wondering whether they didn't start too
early. Some people who really want to be "in" have stopped being
Marxists, and some stop and say "Well, I'm not sure to
be
followed .
I may be a bit early."
David Twersky:
Do you think either Gary Hart or Joe Biden would
have had to drop out of the French presidential race?
Dominique Schnapper:
Not for the reasons they had to drop out. To the
credit of French journalists, they wouldn't have done what American
journalists have done.
David Twersky:
You said that the Socialist government was very in–
terested in what the intellectuals think of them in office. Does Presi–
dent Mitterrand pursue relationships with the intelligentsia, with
groups of writers? Shimon Peres often meets with them.
Dominique Schnapper:
The relationship with the intellectuals has
always been very important to the image of the president in France.
And Mitterrand himself writes books. He is keen on having an in–
tellectual image. President Giscard himself once came to one of the
television sessions of "Apostrophes" to talk about Maupassant, just
as any of you would talk about a writer. De Gaulle wrote his
memoirs. That's part of French tradition, that the high-level politi–
cians are also men of letters, shall we say.
Richard Frelek:
I'm from Warsaw. I would like to thank you for a very
interesting lecture , and I completely agree with your assessment. We
feel also in Eastern Europe that the main channel of exchange be–
tween Eastern and Western Europe has been via the United States,
via American universities . France for nearly two centuries was the
main source for intellectual inspiration in Eastern Europe - much
more than Germany , which influenced Eastern Europe in tech–
nology and industry. Servan-Schreiber's book,
An American Challenge,
