Swiss American Historical Society Review
Keywords
Swiss settlers, Johannes Hitz, daily life
Abstract
To do justice to this work is less than easy, yet is certainly a labor of love. Diverse materials in Swiss archives and others unearthed in the United States form the documentary core of this book. Its rich primary sources deal not only with the world of destination, that is several regions in North America such as the Midwest, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest, but also with the world of origin, especially Klosters and Davos. The author is intimately acquainted with that mountainous area of Switzerland's Canton Graubtinden and she also familiarized herself by extensive travels with the American world. She embedded the primary sources she uncovered over years of research into narrative parts which contain dialogues and feature thought processes that are the author's invention. Thus primary evidence and attempts at genuine, if fictional, reconstruction intermingle and make the work part documentary, part story. It is divided up into some forty chapters of differing lengths that are in part interwoven, in part juxtaposed, which makes it at times less than easy for the reader to grasp the various strands of the narrative. Joyful events are mostly overshadowed by experiences of disaster, be they natural catastrophes derived from the weather and illnesses or from human proneness to doing evil. Marriages, births, and deaths follow each other in a merciless rhythm as are youthful dreams, strivings, achievements, and def eats.
Recommended Citation
Schelbert, Leo
(1999)
"Book Review: Nachkommen. Auswanderer aus Klosters und Davos nach Amerika im 19 Jahrhundert,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 35:
No.
3, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol35/iss3/8