Professor Meilaender, political science, is on sabbatical this semester. While the words for “sabbatical” in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew connote a “ceasing,” Meilaender has kept himself very busy as he translates and researches the works of early 19th century Swiss-German author Jeremias Gotthelf.
In the United States the works of Gotthelf are few. Meilaender said that, “almost nothing he wrote has been translated into English” further explaining that he probably has, “the best Gotthelf library in the States.”
Meilaender first heard about Gotthelf while reading a work by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in which Bonhoeffer mentions Gotthelf and explains that his readings were very enjoyable and interesting. Meilaender followed up on this reference while visiting Switzerland. In particular, Meilaender soon developed a keen interest in Gotthelf’s writings of fiction in which characters would dialogue about the major political issues of the time including topics such as socialism, communism and industrialization, to name only a few.
Gotthelf, who was a pastor in a small fairly conservative Swiss village, wrote while living through several French revolutions and the Napoleonic Wars. He called himself a republican (lower case), and warned that Europe was coasting towards far-left political philosophy which, in his opinion, went against Christian doctrines. His contemporaries Alexis de Tocqueville of France and earlier statesman Edmund Burke of England were all, at the time, discussing similar issues focusing around the same centennial period.
Gotthelf novellas are well-known in Switzerland and Germany (where the novella is more commonly accepted in literary circles than it is in the United States). However, most of his fiction tends to average at the 500 page mark. By the time Gotthelf turned 20 years old, he had written 42 volumes, 60% of which was fiction. He is regarded as one of the top three 19th century Swiss authors and actively pursued reforming Swiss poverty law and education. The Willard J. Houghton library possesses one book written by Gotthelf “on order,” another book by him in the stacks, and a brief biography of him also in the stacks. All of these books are written in either Hoch Deutsch or Swiss-German, languages that very few students speak. Thus, the work that Mailaender is undertaking this semester will be of great academic benefit to Houghton College and others.
Specifically, Meilaender is presently in the midst of a long and difficult process in translating several of Gotthelf’s works and compiling a comparative political philosophy book in which Gotthelf’s theories will be compared to other political philosophers of his time.
The struggle throughout this process has been translating Swiss-German as a non-speaker. Dr. Meilaender, who is quite able to translate from German to English, is reading in Swiss-German which, though similar to German, is still a unique and complex language. Presently, Meilaender is translating a Gotthelf novella The Son of Tell, which is a Swiss version of the famous Wilhelm Tell story. During his interview for the Star, Dr. Meilaender explained that though translation is easier when he can take his time and read the language, he is stretching his translation skills with Gotthelf. He expressed that Swiss radio podcasts have been helping him develop better skillful translation of the language, but the translations are still coming slowly.
This sabbatical for Meilaender has been a time of intense, and enjoyable, academic research into the works of a lesser known political philosopher and Christian.
Through his work, Meilaender shows us that while the pursuit of knowledge may be lengthy and difficult, it ultimately provides satisfaction and new opportunities for more than oneself.