Swiss Literature

SWISS LITERATURE. Peculiarities of the geographical situation of Switzerland make it impossible to speak of a "Swiss" literature in the sense in which we speak of a French or English literature. Switzerland has occupied the position of a "marshland" to its three great neighbours, Germany, France and Italy; and the attraction of the languages of these three nations has exercised an overwhelming influence on Swiss letters. There has, however, almost always been a characteristically Swiss note in the books produced in the territory now known as Switzerland.

Switzerland remained substantially a literary dependent of Ger many even after her political liberty had been achieved. Hadlaub and his contemporaries were rather local German, than Swiss, poets. At the time of the Reformation, there was a momentary danger that German Switzerland would develop an Alemannic literary language differing from that of Germany. Fortunately this differentiation has been confined to the popular spoken lan guage of "Schweizer Deutsch" (which, however, plays also a respectable role in letters), and Swiss writers in German were able to retain the wide public of German-speaking nations.

The abbey of St. Gall was a cradle, not only of Swiss literature, but of German letters in general, at a time corresponding to our Anglo-Saxon period. For details, see articles ST. GALLEN, NoT KER, HYMNS, WALTHARIUS, GERMAN LITERATURE, etc. For our purposes we may begin this sketch with the League or Pact of 1291 (see p. 681 infra). That document, indeed, was written in Latin; but all later alliances (such as, e.g., the Priests' Ordinance of 137o) were drawn up in German. This was the period of the German minnesingers (q.v.), at least 3o of whom are known to have originated at Zurich and other parts of what is now German Switzerland. The Codex Manesse (now in Paris), compiled by the (Swiss) father and son of that name, dates from the beginning of the 14th century and includes specimens of 141 poets. Master John Hadlaub (13-14th centuries), perhaps the most important Swiss minnesinger, forms the subject of a charming tale by Gott fried Keller (q.v.) and contributed not a little to the growth of

Swiss nationalism and patriotism. Other prominent names are Rudolf von Fenis, count of Neuchatel (12th or 13th century), who was much influenced by the Provencal troubadours, and Berthold Steinmar of Argovia, of original and vigorous talent.

Fables and Popular Songs.

In Switzerland, as in Germany, the romantic lyric and epic of the minnesinger period were fol lowed by an age of more prosaic and didactic work. It may be said to be ushered in by the Edelstein, a versified collection of fables by Ulrich Boner, a Dominican friar of Berne (first half of the 14th century), with which may be mentioned Der Ring of Heinrich Wittenberger (Thurgau), a sort of comic epic, and the Schachzabelbuch, an allegorical poem by Konrad von Ammen hausen (1347). The White Book of Sarnen (c. 1470) and the chronicle of Melchior Russ of Lucerne (1482) contain the earliest mentions of William Tell (see TELL). Diebold Schilling of Berne (1484) gives us a stirring narrative of the Burgundian wars. More interesting, perhaps, to lovers of literature are the popular songs, especially the war songs celebrating the marvellous victories of the early Swiss. One of the earliest and most famous of these com memorates the battle of Sempach (1386) and the heroism of Arnold von Winkelried (q.v.), familiar in the later version asso ciated with the name of Hans Halbsuter of Lucerne (1541). Similar songs celebrate the victories of Naefels (1388), Grandson (1476), Morat (1476), Nancy (1477), and Giornico (1478).

The beginnings of the drama in German Switzerland resembled those in Germany. Indeed, the earliest known ms. of a Passion play emanates from the abbey of Muri in Argovia (early 13th century). Switzerland also had its share of the secular Fasten spiele of Shrovetide, the best known of which is Der Kluge Knecht, by an anonymous author of the 15th century.