SWISS AUTHORS
With four official languages -the largest of which is virtually ignored in daily life- and innumerable very distinctive dialects, it is difficult to come up with a definition for “Swiss Literature”. “Swiss Authors” appears at first blush to be a much easier classification, yet quite a number of Swiss writers have made their homes in other countries, and some authors in turn from other countries have made their homes in Switzerland & identify themselves as Swiss. For this brief introduction we’ll separate authors as German, French, Italian or Romansh-speakers with a fifth group representing authors writing in various dialects.
Internationally the best-known German-Language Swiss author is probably Johanna Spyri the creator of Heidi. In Switzerland Gottfried Keller a prolific writer of short stories who was against the idea of Swiss Literature, Max Frisch the author of I’m not Stiller, Friedrich Dûrrenmatt the reputed dramatist who wrote The Physicists, and Carl Spitteler the Noble Prize winner who gave the impactful speech “Our Swiss Standpoint” top the list. Of course, we should include Hermann Hesse the 1946 Noble Prize for Literature winner who wrote Siddhartha. Although he was born in Germany, he received his Swiss citizenship in 1923.
The most famous Swiss French-speaking author is the Genevan Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Several other renowned authors whose Swiss roots are often forgotten include Blaise Cendrars who wrote L’Or, the historical biographical novel of Johann August Sutter, and Jacques Chessex the author of A Jew Must Die. Chessex was the first non-French citizen to win France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt. Two other well-known French-speaking authors include Maurice Chappaz who won the Grand Prix Schiller in 1997, and Charles Ferdinand Ramuz whose likeness appears on the SFr 200 banknote. Those of us who were fans of the Adventures of Tintin, Lucky Luke, & Astérix as we were growing up, will be glad to know that today’s French-speaking teenagers can be amused by the illustrated books written by the Swiss writer Phillipe Chappuis who goes by the pseudonym of ZEP. His Titeuf series have been translated into over 15 languages.
Most of the authors from the Tessin like Giorgio Orelli who won the Schiller Prize in 1972 are better known in Italy than they are in Switzerland. The Ticino has produced some wonderful poets & prose writers among which Francesco Chiesa is the best known. Surprisingly novel writing hasn’t taken off in the Tessin.
It wasn’t really until Caspar Decurtins assembled Romansh works going back to the 16th century in his anthology Chrestomathia that we fully began to appreciate the full extent of Romansh literature. Although Rumantsch Grischun is the official language used by the Swiss federal government, most writers from the Grisons write in one of their five main languages: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, or Valler. Clà Biert is a well-recognized novelist from the Engadin, as is Selina Chönz the famous children’s book author from Samaden who wrote A Bell for Ursli.
One of the exciting happenings in the Swiss literary world is the revival of writings in the local dialects. We introduced you to Rudolf von Tavel in a previous Spotlight. He wrote in the Bernese dialect in the early 1900s along with another author of the period, Simon Gfeller. The latter wrote in the dialect of the Emmental becoming one of the most successful dialect writers in Switzerland. More recently, we can thank the Bernese troubadours who in the 1960s led the way to a renewed fascination and appreciation of Swiss dialects. In 2010 Pedro Lenz, a playwright, novelist & poet was nominated for the Swiss Book Prize winning the Schiller Prize for Literature in 2011. His novel Der Goalie bin ig was made into a film which won several trophies at the 2014 Swiss Film Awards.
Who is your favorite Swiss author & book? Send us an email so that we can share it with our members in a future spotlight.
Checkout the videos & web sites by clicking on the various highlighted links above.
With four official languages -the largest of which is virtually ignored in daily life- and innumerable very distinctive dialects, it is difficult to come up with a definition for “Swiss Literature”. “Swiss Authors” appears at first blush to be a much easier classification, yet quite a number of Swiss writers have made their homes in other countries, and some authors in turn from other countries have made their homes in Switzerland & identify themselves as Swiss. For this brief introduction we’ll separate authors as German, French, Italian or Romansh-speakers with a fifth group representing authors writing in various dialects.
Internationally the best-known German-Language Swiss author is probably Johanna Spyri the creator of Heidi. In Switzerland Gottfried Keller a prolific writer of short stories who was against the idea of Swiss Literature, Max Frisch the author of I’m not Stiller, Friedrich Dûrrenmatt the reputed dramatist who wrote The Physicists, and Carl Spitteler the Noble Prize winner who gave the impactful speech “Our Swiss Standpoint” top the list. Of course, we should include Hermann Hesse the 1946 Noble Prize for Literature winner who wrote Siddhartha. Although he was born in Germany, he received his Swiss citizenship in 1923.
The most famous Swiss French-speaking author is the Genevan Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Several other renowned authors whose Swiss roots are often forgotten include Blaise Cendrars who wrote L’Or, the historical biographical novel of Johann August Sutter, and Jacques Chessex the author of A Jew Must Die. Chessex was the first non-French citizen to win France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt. Two other well-known French-speaking authors include Maurice Chappaz who won the Grand Prix Schiller in 1997, and Charles Ferdinand Ramuz whose likeness appears on the SFr 200 banknote. Those of us who were fans of the Adventures of Tintin, Lucky Luke, & Astérix as we were growing up, will be glad to know that today’s French-speaking teenagers can be amused by the illustrated books written by the Swiss writer Phillipe Chappuis who goes by the pseudonym of ZEP. His Titeuf series have been translated into over 15 languages.
Most of the authors from the Tessin like Giorgio Orelli who won the Schiller Prize in 1972 are better known in Italy than they are in Switzerland. The Ticino has produced some wonderful poets & prose writers among which Francesco Chiesa is the best known. Surprisingly novel writing hasn’t taken off in the Tessin.
It wasn’t really until Caspar Decurtins assembled Romansh works going back to the 16th century in his anthology Chrestomathia that we fully began to appreciate the full extent of Romansh literature. Although Rumantsch Grischun is the official language used by the Swiss federal government, most writers from the Grisons write in one of their five main languages: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, or Valler. Clà Biert is a well-recognized novelist from the Engadin, as is Selina Chönz the famous children’s book author from Samaden who wrote A Bell for Ursli.
One of the exciting happenings in the Swiss literary world is the revival of writings in the local dialects. We introduced you to Rudolf von Tavel in a previous Spotlight. He wrote in the Bernese dialect in the early 1900s along with another author of the period, Simon Gfeller. The latter wrote in the dialect of the Emmental becoming one of the most successful dialect writers in Switzerland. More recently, we can thank the Bernese troubadours who in the 1960s led the way to a renewed fascination and appreciation of Swiss dialects. In 2010 Pedro Lenz, a playwright, novelist & poet was nominated for the Swiss Book Prize winning the Schiller Prize for Literature in 2011. His novel Der Goalie bin ig was made into a film which won several trophies at the 2014 Swiss Film Awards.
Who is your favorite Swiss author & book? Send us an email so that we can share it with our members in a future spotlight.
Checkout the videos & web sites by clicking on the various highlighted links above.
