A Contested Nation: History, Memory And Nationalism In Switzerland, 1761-1891 (past And Present Publications)

Oliver Zimmer examines the ways in which the Swiss defined their national identity in the nineteenth century, in the face of a changing domestic and international background. Zimmer explores why the nation became the focus of public concern at particular historical junctures, how different social actors created and re-created Swiss nationhood, and why the Swiss embraced some definitions rather than others. Beginning in the 1760s, which witnessed the genesis of an early national movement, the book ends in the 1890s when Switzerland developed into a modern nation. "This book examines the ways in which the Swiss defined their national identity in the long nineteenth century, in the face of a changing domestic and international background, and it challenges both functionalist and constructivist approaches to the study of nationalism." "Its narrative begins in 1761, when the first Swiss patriotic society of national significance was founded, and ends in 1891, when the Swiss celebrated their 600-year existence as a nation in a monumental national festival. While conceding that the creation of a nation-state in 1848 marked a watershed in the history of Swiss nation formation, the author does not focus one-sidedly on the activities of the nationalising state. Instead, he attributes a key role to the competitive and contentious struggles over the shaping of public institutions and over the symbolic representation of the nation. These struggles, to which the nation-state and civil society contributed in equal measure, were framed increasingly along national lines. The principal actors involved in these public controversies often held a variety of beliefs (as manifested in the clash between anti-statist regionalists and proponents of a strong state), but all accepted the nation as the central moral and normative frame of reference."--BOOK JACKET Oliver Zimmer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 246-263) And Index.