Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter
Keywords
book review, Robert Walser, Herisau asylum, Swiss writers, Swiss literature
Abstract
Swiss author Robert Walser (1878-1956) was almost forgotten when he died on a Christmas day after having spent over 20 years in the asylum of Herisau refusing all invitations to continue writing. Yet at the beginning of the century he was well known for his poems (1909), his novels (Geschwister Tanner 1906; Der Gehiilfe 1907; Jakob von Gunten 1908), and his numerous short prose pieces published first in newspapers and magazines, then as collections (Fritz Kochers Aufsatze 1904; Kleine Dichtungen 1914; Poetenleben 1917; Die Rose 1925). In the 1960's and 1970's he was rediscovered in Switzerland and Germany; two editions of his collected works appeared (12 vols. ed. by Jochen Greven, Genf: Kossodo, 1966-75; a paperback edition in 12 vols, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1978), and the centenary of his birth was widely celebrated in 1978. Our time is somewhat better attuned to Walser's writings that clothe descriptions of a deeply disturbing world in seemingly limpid poetic images and uses cheerful naivete as a foil for keen criticism of social and intellectual conventions.
Recommended Citation
Burkhard, Marianne
(1986)
"Book Review: Robert Walser Rediscovered: Stories, Fairy-Tale Plays, and Critical Responses,"
Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter: Vol. 22:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_newsletter/vol22/iss2/6