Languages and literatures
Language and literature studies are a particular focus at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich. We hold fiction in over 70 languages and in translation.
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich acquires large quantities of study and research literature on all the languages and literatures that are taught at the University of Zurich. In addition, we offer academic publications on some 200 languages. Our fiction holdings include works from all parts of the world. Discover more in our subject areas.
General language and literature studies
Covering everything from multilingualism to rhetoric and Romanticism, the Zentralbibliothek Zürich holds literature on linguistics, literary theory and comparative literature in a wide range of languages.
Literature for study and research
We offer literature for all philologies and a wide range of databases including the MLA International Bibliography and the Linguistic Bibliography Online, spanning all sub-fields of linguistics. Other focal points include theoretical literary studies and comparative literature.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Language studies of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Literature studies of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist youwith your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to general language and literature studies, contact:
German
Studying German, or just enjoying reading literature in that language? Either way, at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich you will find an extensive collection to suit your needs.
Literature for study and research
We offer literature on all aspects of research into German and all the main authors in the German-speaking world. To help with your research, you can access e-resources such as BDSL, Germanistik Online and KLG Online. From the Middle Ages to the present day, from Abrogans to Zürn and the High German consonant shift, you will find what you need at the Zentralbibliothek.
Fiction
We acquire current fiction in German from Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Whatever your preference – novels, poems and plays or crime stories and graphic novels – we cover all genres and forms of literature and also hold scholarly editions for more in-depth study.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support German Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to German studies and literature in German, contact:
English
Theater or theatre? Byron or Moss? The Zentralbibliothek’s range of specialist literature on the English language and anglophone literature is extensive and wide-ranging.
Literature for study and research
We acquire a wide selection of specialist literature in print for English language and literature studies. In addition to e-journals and e-books we offer electronic reference works such as Literature Online and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature. Publications from the US and Canada are acquired by our North America Library.
Fiction
We collect fiction from all parts of the English-speaking world. You will find authors from the UK, Ghana, Australia, India, New Zealand and the Caribbean. The North America Library specialises in the US and Canada. Scholarly editions and electronic text collections such as African American Poetry are also included in our range.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- More links on this area
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support English Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to English studies and literature in English, contact:
Nordic languages
Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish: northern Europe is close at hand in the Zentralbibliothek Zürich. Velkommen – Vælkoma – Velkomin – Välkommen!
Literature for study and research
Our Nordic holdings cover the linguistic and cultural territory of Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. We offer a wide range of academic publications on the Nordic languages and literatures, from Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir to Jess Ørnsbo.
Fiction
We acquire newly published Nordic literature in almost all original languages and in German translation, including everything from lyric poetry to crime and Selma Lagerlöf to Karl Ove Knausgård. We have the largest collection of Scandinavian literature in Switzerland and the most beautiful original title, reflecting the light of the north: “Med nordlys i øjnene”.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Link to the Nordic Philology Department of the University of Zurich
- Link to the Nordic Studies Department of the University of Basel
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Scandinavian Studies of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Nordic studies and literature in the Nordic languages, contact:
Other Germanic languages
More than simply German: at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich you will find almost everything on the language, literature and culture of the entire Germanic and Indogermanic linguistic area.
Literature for study and research
Our collection covers the entire (Indo-)germanic language and cultural sphere, with a particular focus on Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish and the Celtic languages. We also acquire research literature and dictionaries for Albanian, Armenian, Phrygian, Thracian and Tocharian. We carry secondary literature on all the major authors.
Fiction
We collect works of literature from all (Indo-)germanic areas of the world. We have new publications in translation, as well as Dutch fiction in the original language. All genres are represented, from novels and poetry to short stories and dramas.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Comparative Germanic Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to German studies and literature in all Germanic languages, contact:
French
Bienvenu! The Zentralbibliothek Zürich’s collection on the French language and francophone literature and cultures is extensive and multi-faceted.
Literature for study and research
The Zentralbibliothek covers the entire francophone linguistic and cultural world. You will find literature on every current research topic, from Dany Laferrière and Marie de France to Français numérique. Our online resources include not just Klapp Online and Le Grand Robert but also the digital edition of Le Monde.
Fiction
We collect fiction from all parts of the French-speaking world, with a particular focus on literature from France, French-speaking Switzerland, Africa, Quebec and the Caribbean. New publications are available in French, with a selection in German translation. All genres, forms and eras are represented, from Aimé Césaire and Montaigne to Zola and Zep.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support French Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to French studies and literature in French, contact:
Italian
From Old Italian to the present day, the Zentralbibliothek Zürich holds literature from Italy and the Ticino area, as well as everything related to Italian language and literature studies.
Literature for study and research
We aim to cover all areas of Italian language and literature studies in full. We therefore systematically acquire literature from Old Italian to the present day and on all the relevant themes and names, with a particular focus on the language and literature of Italian-speaking Switzerland. You’ll also find the most important works in Corsican and Sardinian.
Fiction
We collect literature from Italy and Ticino. The Zentralbibliothek holds novels, story collections and poetry, also including Italian dialects such as Lombard and Sicilian. You’ll also find fiction in Italian as well as a selection of German translations.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Italian Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Italian studies and Italian literature, contact:
Spanish
At the Zentralbibliothek Zürich you will find academic resources on Spanish studies and literature from Spain and Latin America.
Literature for study and research
We collect literature on all areas of Spanish language and literature studies, including media on language history and dialect research, but also essays on the work of Spanish-language authors such as Almudena Grandes and Jorge Luis Borges. Our research coverage extends to both Spain and Hispanic America.
Fiction
Our fiction collections include literature from both Spain and Latin America. We hold novels and other literary works from all periods, from the Middle Ages to the postmodern. We mainly acquire literature in the original Spanish, but also carry a selection of German translations.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Spanish and Portuguese Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Spanish studies and literature in Spanish, contact:
Portuguese
Bemvindos! The Zentralbibliothek Zürich’s Portuguese philology holdings cover all the territories and cultures in which Portuguese is spoken.
Literature for study and research
We have an extensive range of resources on language and literature from Portugal, Brazil and the African countries in which Portuguese is an official language, as well as research literature on the most important writers. Our coverage of Portugal includes all periods from the Middle Ages to the present day, while for Brazil the focus is on the 20th century.
Fiction
If you are looking for the poems of Fernando Pessoa or a novel by Clarice Lispector, you will find fiction from all the world’s Portuguese-speaking countries at the Zentralbibliothek, with a particular emphasis on Portugal and Brazil. New publications are available in the original language, with a selection in German and English.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Spanish and Portuguese Literature and Linguistics of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Portuguese studies and literature in Portuguese, contact:
Other Romance languages
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich offers extensive coverage of Romansh, and we also hold literature in Catalan and Romanian.
Romansh
We cover all five Romansh idioms – Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter and Vallader – as well as the official language, Rumantsch Grischun. We collect academic publications for your studies or research as well as the latest texts from Romansh authors as comprehensively as possible.
Catalan, Occitan, Romanian
- Catalan: we focus particularly on contemporary literature and sociolinguistics.
- Occitan: our main focus is on the medieval poetry of the troubadours.
- Romanian: the main areas covered are linguistic atlases and the literature of the inter-war period (1918–1940).
- Ladin, Friulian: we collect publications on the linguistics of the southern Alpine dialects.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Comparative Romanic Linguistics of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Rhaeto-Romanic of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. For questions relating to Romansh and Occitan contact Mirja Lanz; for Catalan and Romanian contact Albert von Brunn:
Slavic and Baltic languages
We collect literature on all areas of Slavic studies. The Zentralbibliothek covers all the Slavic languages as well as the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian.
Literature for study and research
Slavic philology covers the linguistic and cultural world of the Slavic peoples. We acquire literature in all the Slavic languages and scripts. You will also find fiction and research literature in German, English and French. Zurich is the largest centre for Slavic studies in Switzerland.
Separate Slavic collections
Our Slavica include a number of valuable gifts. Explore our separate Slavic collections:
- Russian Library Zurich (RBC)
- Katarina Jovanović Serbian Library (SBC)
- Polonica from the personal library of Tadeusz Sarnecki
- Baltica
- Czech and Slovak fiction from the Association of Czech Societies in Switzerland
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Links on this area
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Slavonic Languages and Literatures of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to the Slavic and Baltic languages and literatures, contact:
Finno-Ugric languages
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich houses the largest Finnish library and the largest Hungarian collection in Switzerland – as well as much more on the Finno-Ugric languages and literatures.
Study, research and fiction
Finno-Ugric studies have a special place at the Zentralbibliothek, with no less than three collections relating to Finland, Hungary and Estonia in the Baltic. We acquire works of literature extensively. You will also find academic publications on Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian as well as the Sami and Samoyedic languages in Lapland and Russia.
Hungarian
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich has been collecting Hungarica since the 1950s. In 1990 we also acquired the Hungarian holdings of the Landesbibliothek Bern. Today, our Hungarian collection is the largest in Switzerland, with some 20,000 titles. The main focus is on fiction, which you can borrow either in the original language or in German translation.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Training programme: Fennica workshop
- Acquisition request
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions regarding Hungarian, contact Adrienn Duff; for Finnish and Estonian contact Mirja Lanz:
Hebrew and Arabic
Discover the literatures of the Middle East and the worlds of the Arabic and Hebrew languages at the Zentralbibliothek.
Literature for study and research
Among the Semitic languages, we focus in particular on Hebrew and Arabic language and literature studies. The Zentralbibliothek additionally covers the entire linguistic and cultural sphere of the Middle East and North Africa, also including Persian and the Turkic languages. Our resources also cover Islamic studies and Jewish studies.
Fiction
- We acquire modern Hebrew fiction in translation, as comprehensively as possible in German. For fiction in the original language, consult the Bibliothek der Israelitischen Cultusgemeinde Zürich.
- As regards Arabic literature, the main focus is on Moorish Spain and the 20th century. We acquire new publications from all Arabic-speaking countries in German or English translation.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Link to the Specialised Information Service Jewish studies
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Hebrew, contact Andrea Sommaruga; for Arabic contact Albert von Brunn:
South and East Asian languages
Dalit literature, Japanese best-sellers and research literature on the South and East Asian languages can all be found at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich.
Literature for study and research
When it comes to Chinese, Japanese and Korean literature, we aim to provide optimum support for researchers. Our collection also includes authors writing in western languages, as well as research literature on the languages of the Far East and South Asia.
Fiction
The Zentralbibliothek Zürich is the perfect starting point for literary journeys to China, Japan, Korea or India. Knowledge of the local language is not required, as we acquire fiction in translation. A particular focus is on Dalit literature. You will also find fiction from the British colonial period in translation from the Sanskrit.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- More links on this area
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Sinology / Chinese Studies of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Indology of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Japanese Studies of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to the South East, East and South Asian languages, contact:
Greek and Latin
Salve! The Zentralbibliothek Zürich holds a comprehensive collection on Greek and Latin philology.
Literature for study and research
You will find everything you need for your research into Greek and Latin philology at the Zentralbibliothek. We acquire resources on classical philology but also Middle Latin and modern Greek. You can also access databases and full-text collections, as well as a comprehensive selection of periodicals.
Primary literature
You will find an extensive range of Ancient Greek and Latin literature in our collections – in the original languages, in scholarly editions and in translation. We also collect literary texts from later periods and, to a lesser extent, modern Greek fiction.
Links
- Databases and electronic resources
- Individual advice
- Acquisition request
- Subject-Specific Support Greek of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Latin of the UZH University Library
- Subject-Specific Support Medieval Latin of the UZH University Library
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to Greek and Latin, contact:
Other languages
If you are looking for purely spoken languages, artificial languages or other language families, you will find these and more at the Zentralbibliothek Zürich.
Indigenous languages and creoles
We also offer specialist literature on languages that receive little or no coverage at the University of Zurich. They include African, native American and Caucasian languages such as Georgian, as well as Austronesian and Oceanic languages such as Tagalog and Maori. We also hold literature on artificial languages such as Esperanto as well as creole and pidgin languages.
Dictionaries and grammars
We focus mainly on dictionaries and grammars; fiction in other languages is only collected in limited quantities and in translation.
Links
Contact
We are happy to assist you with your search for literature and provide expert information. If you have any questions relating to other languages, contact:
