Heidi

For other uses, see Heidi (disambiguation).
Spyri Heidi Cover 1887.jpg

Heidi is a Swiss work of fiction, published in two parts as (1) Heidi's years of learning and travel (German: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and (2) Heidi makes use of what she has learned. (German: Heidi kann brauchen, was sie gelernt hat)[1] It is a novel about the events in the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps. It was written as a book "for children and those who love children" (as quoted from its subtitle) in 1880 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri.

The Heidi book is among the best-known works of Swiss literature.[2][3]

Plot summary

Aunt Dete hurrying away after leaving Heidi with the Alm-Öhi.

Adelheid (familiarly known as Heidi) is a girl who has been raised by her aunt Dete in Maienfeld, Switzerland after the early deaths of her parents, Tobias and Adelheid. Dete brings 5-year-old Heidi to her grandfather, who has been at odds with the villagers for years and lives in seclusion on the alm. This has earned him the nickname Alp-Öhi ("Alm Uncle"[4] in the Graubünden dialect). He at first resents Heidi's arrival, but the girl manages to penetrate his harsh exterior and Heidi subsequently has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, young Peter the goat-herd.

Dete returns three years later to bring Heidi to Frankfurt as a companion of a 12-year-old girl named Klara Sesemann, who is regarded as an invalid. Heidi spends a year with Klara, conflicting with the Sesemanns' strict housekeeper Fraulein Rottenmeier and becoming more and more homesick. Her one diversion is learning to read and write, motivated by her desire to go home and read to Peter's blind grandmother. Heidi's increasingly failing health, and several instances of sleepwalking that cause hysteria in the household that there is a haunting, prompt Klara's doctor to send Heidi home to her grandfather. Her return prompts the grandfather to descend to the village for the first time in years, marking an end to his seclusion.

Heidi and Klara continue to contact each other. A visit by the doctor to Heidi and her grandfather convinces him to recommend Klara to visit Heidi. Meanwhile, Heidi teaches Peter to read and write. Klara makes the journey the next season and spends a wonderful summer with Heidi. Klara becomes stronger on goat's milk and fresh mountain air, but Peter, feeling deprived of Heidi's attention, pushes Klara's wheelchair down the mountain to its destruction. Without her wheelchair, Klara attempts to walk and is gradually successful. Klara's grandmother and father are amazed and overcome with joy to see Klara walking. Klara's wealthy family promises to provide a shelter for Heidi, in case her grandfather will no longer be able to do so.

Film, television and theatrical adaptations

About 20 film or television productions of the original story have been made. The Heidi films were popular far and wide, becoming a huge hit and an iconic animated series in several countries around the world. The only incarnation of the Japanese-produced animated TV series to reach the English language was a dubbed feature-length compilation movie using the most pivotal episodes of the television series, released on video in the United States in 1985. Although the original book describes Heidi as having dark, curly hair, she is usually portrayed as a blonde.

Versions of the story include:

Heidiland

Maienfeld, the main town in Heidiland

Heidiland, named after the Heidi books, is an important tourist area in Switzerland, popular especially with the Japanese.[5]Maienfeld is the center of what is called Heidiland; one of the villages, formerly called Oberrofels,[6] is actually renamed "Heididorf."[7] Heidiland is located in an area called Bündner Herrschaft; it is criticized as being a "laughable, infantile cliche"[5] and "a more vivid example of hyperreality."[8]

Sequels

The two sequel books, Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children, were neither written nor endorsed by Spyri, but were adapted from other works by her English translator, Charles Tritten, many years after she died.

There are some major differences between the original Heidi and the Tritten sequels. These include;

Basis for Heidi

In April 2010, a Swiss professorial candidate, Peter Buettner, uncovered a book written in 1830 by the German author Hermann Adam von Kamp. The 1830 story is titled "Adelaid: The Girl from the Alps" (German: Adelaide, das Mädchen vom Alpengebirge). The two stories share many similarities in plot line and imagery.[9] Spyri biographer Regine Schindler said it was entirely possible that Spyri may have been familiar with the story as she grew up in a literate household with many books.

See also

Portal icon Novels portal

Footnotes

  1. ^ Nathan Haskell Dole, translator of the 1899 edition
  2. ^ "Swiss Literature (old link)". revue.ch. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071018001042/http://revue.ch/swisskids_en/schweizer_geschichten/SG7_eng_juli.php. Retrieved 2008-03-04. 
  3. ^ "Swiss Literature". admin.ch. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080206223105/http://ead.nb.admin.ch/web/swissinfodesk/cultl-en.html. Retrieved 2008-03-04. 
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ a b Abend, Bernhard; Anja Schliebitz (2006). Schweiz. Baedeker. pp. 145–46. ISBN 978-3-8297-1071-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=JTqNwBa58xAC&pg=PT146. 
  6. ^ Beattie, Andrew (2006). The Alps: a cultural history. Oxford: Oxford UP. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-19-530955-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=dm7MK6qHL_oC&pg=PA142. 
  7. ^ Simonis, Damien; Sarah Johnstone, Nicole Williams (2006). Switzerland. Lonely Planet. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-74059-762-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=-CIiItGuisoC&pg=PA274. 
  8. ^ Solomon, Michael R. (2006). Conquering consumerspace: marketing strategies for a branded world. Broadway: Amacom. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-8144-0741-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=wBej3cFqSSAC&pg=PA30. 
  9. ^ "Basis for Heidi". Heidi inspiration. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EVRPDO0. 

External links

Heidi on a CHF 50 Swiss commemorative coin, 2001.