Book Review: The Essence of Swissness: A Special Issue of the Times Literary Supplement

Authors

Leo Schelbert

Keywords

book review, Switzerland, Swiss literary traditions, Swiss society, Swiss regionalism

Abstract

The Friday, December 7, 1984, issue of the London Times Literary Supplement was devoted in good part to works about Switzerland and its unique literary and historical traditions. It opens with a challenging essay by George Steiner who raises the question "What is Swiss?" "The Writer may speak against the grain," he cautions, "even when he bears close witness. Ten years are, as I have found, too short a time in which to get to know the palimpsest of Genevan society, let alone those of Switzerland." Yet he offers courageously and with much insight his "impressions as to the nature of 'what is Swiss'."

Recommended Citation

Schelbert, Leo (1985) "Book Review: The Essence of Swissness: A Special Issue of the Times Literary Supplement," Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter: Vol. 21: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_newsletter/vol21/iss1/7