Resisting the Image: Heidi, Sheep and <i>Swiss Trash</i>

The novel Swiss Trash, written by Dunia Miralles in 2000, interrogates stereotypes around immigration and nationhood contemporary francophone Switzerland, with the intention of turning some notions on their head letting others fester, uncomfortably. French-language text underscores divisions, startling differences present within a seemingly perfect “Heidiland.” Its English title hints at complex often equivocal cultural denotations extant Helvetic Confederation. A simultaneous reading Trash Heidi, familiar citizens intrusive immigrants, offers, this article contends, revealing visions dismal present/future an idealized past. Read alongside works literature, essay examines powerful political images conveying foreign threat billboards during referenda 2010-2011 city Geneva. It compares divergent visual, journalistic literary depictions other-ness, interpretations that investigate oxymoron “Swiss Trash.”