The articles in this volume live up to their declared aim to squarely approach the works of Jeremias Gotthelf (1797-1854) from the perspective of literary scholarship. They take an international angle on aesthetic, genre typological, theological, political and socio-historical aspects of his oeuvre. Outdated and erroneous verdicts are refuted, Gotthelf is regarded against the aesthetic and cultural-historical backdrop of his age and compared with other European authors. The major insight gleaned from this is that his work is not merely the expression of an effort to contribute to the popular education and the politics of his day but can stand as the literary achievement of a major realistic narrator. The volume rounds off with a bibliography and detailed indexes of persons, works and subjects.