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became very well known in Europe and somehow shifted the atten–
tion of Europeans to the United States . Later on, inspirations and
influences came from the United States.
Your father, Raymond Aron , was to a great extent right in his
book
The End
oj
the Age of Ideology .
This is true also in Eastern
Europe . More and more, intellectuals there have become very
pragmatic. The division among intellectuals is much deeper about
the values of civilization. Much of the discussion now is about the
human environment, on whether Marx was right. In the last few
years we have had deeper and deeper divisions among those you call
top intellectuals , between the conservative and the liberal wing. It is
good that the liberals are winning.
In the last two decades German literature - Grass, Boll, - has
gotten much more attention than before. Marx is very influential in
the European literary world. But that is not the main source of in–
spiration: it is American literature and the new wave of Russian
literature . There is also the great influence of Japanese literature,
even in America. Far less, I'm sorry again to say, is French
literature . I admire French culture , but France has been behind the
influence of the United States and some other countries . We need
many more links within Europe.
Dominique Schnapper:
I'm glad there has been a Polish voice . Solidar–
ity has been extremely important to the view the French have of the
Soviet Union. There are also some old romantic links between
France and Poland . The French have been particularly sensitive to
the situation in Poland, and it has been important to the negative
image of the communist world which French intellectuals do have .
Now, in spite of all his gifts, I don't think that a book by
Servan-Schreiber could by itself have changed the relationship
be–
tween Poland , France , England and the United States so much.
There are other reasons . Yet, never has a book been so influential,
except maybe Solzhenitsyn's
Gulag.
Joanna Rose:
I was in Poland last June and met many writers, film
directors ; they all still talked about Servan-Schreiber. He has had an
amazing effect.
William Phillips:
In your comments on moralizing in politics, you
seem to make a distinction between the long-term interests of gov–
ernments and the short-term interests of elected officials.
Dominique Schnapper:
We have an idea of the state , excluding the peo–
ple who are at the head of the state . I don't think Americans have an
