Editing Switzerland (section)

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Literature of Switzerland}}
[[File:Jean-Jacques Rousseau (painted portrait).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] was not only a writer but also an influential philosopher of the eighteenth century.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023|reason=Certainly true, but the source we had for this statement is no longer available.}}]]
The earliest forms of literature were in German, reflecting the language's early predominance. In the 18th century, French became fashionable in Bern and elsewhere, while the influence of the French-speaking allies and subject lands increased.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Switzerland/Literature|display=Switzerland § Literature|volume=26|page=263|first=William Augustus Brevoort|last=Coolidge|author-link=W. A. B. Coolidge}}</ref>

Among the classic authors of Swiss literature are [[Jeremias Gotthelf]] (1797–1854) and [[Gottfried Keller]] (1819–1890); later writers are [[Max Frisch]] (1911–1991) and [[Friedrich Dürrenmatt]] (1921–1990), whose {{lang|de|Das Versprechen}} (''[[The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel|The Pledge]]'') was released as a Hollywood film in 2001, starring Jack Nicholson.<ref name="Literature">{{Cite web |title=Discover Switzerland |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/culture/literature/german_speaking_authors/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611004600/http://www.swissworld.org/en/culture/literature/german_speaking_authors/ |archive-date=11 June 2009 |access-date=23 June 2009 |website=www.eda.admin.ch |language=en}}</ref>

Famous French-speaking writers were [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] (1712–1778) and [[Germaine de Staël]] (1766–1817). More recent authors include [[Charles Ferdinand Ramuz]] (1878–1947), whose novels describe the lives of peasants and mountain dwellers, set in a harsh environment, and [[Blaise Cendrars]] (born Frédéric Sauser, 1887–1961).<ref name="Literature" /> Italian and Romansh-speaking authors also contributed to the Swiss literary landscape, generally in proportion to their number.

Probably the most famous Swiss literary creation, ''[[Heidi]]'', the story of an orphan girl who lives with her grandfather in the Alps, is one of the most popular children's books and has come to be a symbol of Switzerland. Her creator, [[Johanna Spyri]] (1827–1901), wrote a number of books on similar themes.<ref name="Literature" />