Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter
Keywords
politics, Switzerland, Max Frisch
Abstract
Switzerland has a rich literary tradition. In modern times both the German- and the French-speaking regions have produced important writers who left distinctive marks on the literature and culture of their time. The 18th century was a time of literary florescence in Switzerland. Important writers of that period include the Bernese patrician Albrecht von Haller (1708-77), whose long poem Die Alpen (1729; The Alps) extols the beauty and grandeur of nature; Johann Jokob Bodmer (1698-1783) and Johann Jakob Breitinger (1701-66) of Zurich, who helped free German literature from the confines of rigid rules; Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712- 78), "citizen of Geneva," whose epochal writings reflect the indelible impressions he received while growing up in Geneva and on the shores of Lake Leman; Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) and Madame de Stael (nee Germaine Necker, 1766- 1817), the brilliant, cosmopolitan couple from Coppet; and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), the Zurich humanitarian and pedagogue, whose didactic village novel Lienhard und Gertrud (1781) became a bible for educators while achieving great popularity among the common people for whom it was written.
Recommended Citation
Meier, Heinz K.
(1982)
"Swiss Literature,"
Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter: Vol. 18:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_newsletter/vol18/iss2/3