ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of alpine landscape in the formation and reconstruction of Swiss national identity from the late eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War. In a context in which resorting to the ethno-linguistic criterion would have been bound to cause national disintegration, landscape rather than language came to be seen as the organic principle connecting modern Switzerland with its pre-modern past. The chapter distinguishes two historical phases, each giving rise to a distinct conceptualization of the relationship between alpine landscape and the Swiss nation. The first one (prevalent from the late eighteenth century to the 1870s) is projective and portrays the Alps as an expression of national authenticity. The second conceptualization (prevalent from the 1870s to 1945) is deterministic and depicts alpine landscape as the ultimate determinant of ethno-cultural homogeneity.
