Documentation Swiss literatures

In Cooperation with the platform swissliterature.ch.

[ book tip by Literatur Schweiz ] Under the name «Berne is everywhere», six authors and two musicians* joined forces to develop a label for fulminant, polyphonic spoken-word performances. Literature does not only belong in books but also onto the stage, is their motto. The first CD, recorded live at Café Kairo in Berne, gives an overview of the variety of voices and text forms the members of «Berne is everywhere» use. Verbal stunts, witty stories of the everyday, punch-lines very much to the point and refrains spoken in chorus chase each other through the programme.
Language needs to be spoken out loud, as «language unfolds in one’s mouth,» the group writes in a manifesto. Accordingly, the language spoken in everyday life, i.e. dialect, is the common denominator. Such as when Guy Krneta asks where language comes from and how it how it finds the mouth, or when Beat Sterchi declines empty quotidian phrases to a swirling staccato. «Berne is everywhere» demonstrates splendidly what the spoken-word genre is capable of.
Since their first CD, the group has built an astonishing career and has expanded to include French voices. Their musical and poetic performances enjoy astounding popularity.

(Beat Mazenauer, translation by Simon Froehling)
 
* Stefanie Grob, Guy Krneta, Pedro Lenz, Gerhard Meister, Michael Stauffer, Beat Sterchi; Adi Blum and Michael Pfeuti.

[ Favourite quote ] «Ghörsch mi? Ghörsch mi nid? Du ghörsch mi nid! Ghörsch mi itz? Itz ghörsch wyder nüt.»

[ book info ] Bern ist überall, : Im Kairo. (original language: Swiss German) At Café Kairo. Verlag Der gesunde Menschenversand, Luzern, 2006 .