Breton literature
may refer to literature in the
Breton language
(
Brezhoneg
) or the broader literary tradition of
Brittany
in the three other main languages of the area, namely,
Latin
,
Gallo
and
French
? all of which have had strong mutual linguistic and cultural influences.
Old and Middle Breton literature
[
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]
Breton literature can be categorised into an Old Breton period, from the 5th to 11th century; and a
Middle Breton
period, up to the 17th century. The period break is marked by the Norman invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries which triggered an exodus out of Brittany. Many Old Breton extant words are
glosses
in Latin
manuscripts
from the 9th and 10th centuries, now scattered in libraries and collections throughout Europe. It is likely there was a highly developed
oral tradition
during the Old Breton period. And on the evidence of Breton names, it would appear that Old and Middle Breton literature inspired much of
Arthurian literature
, the story of
Tristan and Iseult
and the
Lais
of Marie de France
.
[
citation needed
]
The oldest surviving manuscript in the
Breton language
(dating to the end of the 8th century) is kept at
Leyden University
, Netherlands, and predates the oldest text referenced in
French
by more than a century.
[1]
[2]
It is generally assumed by specialists that this is the most ancient text in a continental
Brythonic
language and was studied by the late Professor
Leon Fleuriot
(1923?1987). The manuscript itself is a fragment of medicinal recipes composed of plants suggesting that Breton may well have been used by people of learning at the turn of the 11th century.
[3]
The Breton Gospel
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]
Although written in
Latin
the
Breton Gospel
(
British Library, Egerton 609
) is an important literary work in terms of the wider scope of
Breton culture
. Amongst other things it attests to a high degree of learning and, presumably, monasterial wealth in Brittany comparable to that of
Lindisfarne
and
Kells
. The
Gospel Book
manuscript dating from the 9th century contains the Latin text of the four
Gospels
, along with prefatory material and canon tables ? an interesting admixture of traditions. The Breton Gospel is similar to the form of
Carolingian minuscule
developed at
Tours
? one of the classicising centres of the
Carolingian Renaissance
, and although the form of the large illuminated letters that form the beginning of each Gospel are comparable to those found in
Carolingian
manuscripts, the decoration thereof is far more similar to
Celtic Church
manuscripts such as the
Book of Kells
and the
Lindisfarne Gospels
, suggesting a continuum of cultural tradition. However, the decoration here is simpler and more geometric in form than that to be found in insular manuscripts. The beginning of each Gospel is preceded by a full miniature of the appropriate Evangelist's symbol and the
vellum
folios themselves measure 32.5 by 23 centimetres.
Glosses
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]
Another early known piece of Breton literature is found in the margins of a 14th-century Latin manuscript, scribbled by a scribe weary of his toil and mind on more immediate concerns, he left for posterity a four line love poem, the first two lines beginning:
- An guen heguen am louenas
- An hegarat an lacat glas
- The fair one, her cheek gladdened me
- The lovable one of the blue eye.
Epic poetry
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]
The main principle of Breton poetry is that the next to last
syllable
in a line should rhyme with one or more other syllables in the same line. For example, in the first line above, "en" is the second to last syllable, which rhymes with "guen" and "heguen". In the second line, "at" is the second to last syllable which rhymes with "hegarat".
There are several texts from the 15th and 16th century:
Modern literature
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]
Before the literary revival movement promoted by
Gwalarn
in the early 20th century, most literature in Breton consisted of religious writings.
[4]
Prose writings in Breton, almost exclusively religious, started appearing from the 17th century. The second half of the 18th century saw the appearance of the first secular works in Breton:
Ar Farvel Goapaer
by
Francois-Nicolas de Pascal de Kerenveyer
and
Sarmoun great war ar maro a Vikael Vorin
by
Claude-Marie Le Lae
. Most literature remained oral, however.
[5]
Yann-Fransez ar Gonideg
(1775?1838) played an important role by initiating a reform of
Breton orthography
, producing an orderly
grammar
and making the first Modern Breton translation of the
New Testament
.
19th century
[
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]
The 19the century witnessed "a veritable explosion" of published works of Breton literature, particularly after ties between the Breton people and the Catholic clergy were restored following the
religious persecution
of the
First French Republic
.
[6]
Increasingly, antiquarians and
Celtic revivalists
undertook the collection of folk texts, songs and stories. The wave of interest in collecting oral traditions reached Brittany around 1815-1820 when educated members of the
nobility
such as Aymar de Blois de La Calande, Barbe-Emilie de Saint-Prix, Jean-Marie de Penguern, Jean-Francois de Kergariou, Ursule Feydeau de Vaugien, exchanged their findings informally.
[5]
Writers such as
Anatole Le Braz
and
Theodore Hersart de la Villemarque
(son of Ursule Feydeau de Vaugien) brought new readers to traditional Breton literature.
Barzaz Breizh
(literally "The Bards of Brittany") is a collection of Breton
oral poetry
collected by La Villemarque and published in 1839 (revised and expanded edition 1845). It was compiled from the
oral tradition
and preserves
Breton mythology
, legends, and music. Although hugely influential,
Barzaz Breiz
came under attack from a later generation of collectors, who accused La Villemarque, like
James Macpherson
and the
Brothers Grimm
, of collecting songs and stories and then editing them before publication to accord with contemporary literary taste. Taking a more rigorous approach to the collection of oral material,
Francois-Marie Luzel
published
Gwerziou Breiz Izel
(1868?1874) and
Contes Bretons
(1870).
[5]
Despite their differences, both La Villemarque and Luzel inspired many others to collect and publish other works of
oral poetry
and to also write and publish a flood of new poetry in the Breton language.
[6]
Auguste Brizeux
used Le Gonidec's standardised Breton for
Telenn Arvor
(1844), and his collection of proverbs,
Furnez Breiz
(1845).
In 1877,
Lan Inisan
published
Emgann Kergidou
("The Battle of Kergidou"), the first and only novel in Breton to be published before the
First World War
. The novel is set during the 1793
Chouannerie
in
Saint-Pol-de-Leon
; an uprising by Breton nobles and commons against the
French Revolutionary Army
and the
First French Republic
.
[6]
20th?21st centuries
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]
Even though the neo-bardic,
Gorsedd
, and
Eisteddfod
movement in Brittany was founded during the early 19th century by
Auguste Brizeux
, the real heyday of the movement took place between 1900 and the outbreak of the
First World War
. Those two decades were dominated by
Francois Jaffrenou
, whose
bardic name
was Taldir, and who introduced many
Iolo Morganwg
-inspired elements of
Welsh culture
into
Breton culture
. During those decades, Taldir founded the
Gorsedd Barzed Gourenez Breiz Isel
(The
Gorsedd
of
Bards
of the Peninsula of Brittany) and did much to encourage both traditional Celtic poetry and a sense of community among Breton Bards.
[7]
The poet
Jean-Pierre Calloc'h
(1888?1917) was killed during the First World War. His posthumously-published collection
Ar en deulin
established his reputation as a
war poet
.
According to Jelle Krol, "It is not merely a collection of poems by a major Breton poet: it is a symbol of homage to Yann-Ber Kalloc'h and all those Bretons whose creative powers were cut short by their untimely deaths. Breton literature from the trenches is very rare. Only Yann-Ber Kalloc'h's poems, some war notes written by
Auguste Bocher
, the memoirs recounted by
Ambroise Harel
and
Loeiz Herrieu
's letters addressed to his wife survived the war."
[8]
In the 1920s, a movement, in which the linguist and author
Roparz Hemon
played an important part, arose to introduce both
literary modernism
and
world literature
into the Breton language. The literary magazine
Gwalarn
provided an outlet for
literary modernism
, such as
Jakez Riou
and
Yves Le Drezen
(who published the first long novel in Breton in 1941). The artistic movement
Seiz Breur
included writers.
The
literary magazine
Al Liamm
published its first issue in 1946. Numerous authors of modern Breton literature, such as
Abeozen
,
Per Denez
,
[9]
Youenn Drezen
,
Xavier de Langlais
(Langleiz),
Anjela Duval
,
[10]
Reun Ar C'halan
, Maodez Glanndour,
Youenn Gwernig
,
Roparz Hemon
,
Ronan Huon
,
Paol Keineg
, Kerverziou,
Meavenn
, Youenn Olier, Yann-Ber Piriou ... have made contributions to the magazine with poems, short stories, essays, studies, ... Breton poets and singers who were directly involved in the revival of the
music of Brittany
, such as
Milig ar Skanv (Glenmor)
,
Youenn Gwernig
, or Bernez Tangi, have also published poems and songs in
Al Liamm
.
Pierre-Jakez Helias
(1914?1995) wrote
stage plays
, literary adaptations of tales from
Breton mythology
, prose,
nonfiction
, and poetry in both Breton, which he often self-translated into French in order to reach a wider audience. In 1948, he was the co-founder, with
Francois Begot
and
Jo Halleguen
, of
Les grandes Fetes de Cornouaille
Breton
:
Cornouaille Kemper
) in
Quimper
, which he helped adapt from an annual beauty contest into a Welsh
Eisteddfod
-inspired summer festival celebrating
Breton culture
, literature, and music which still continues.
[11]
Helias' contemporary
Anjela Duval
(1905?1981) wrote poetry reflective of her peasant origins, mysticism, and social conscience.
In contrast to the concentration on short-form writings in Breton which had dominated production in the previous century, a trend towards novel-length writing developed from the 1980s. By the beginning of the 21st century a dozen or so novels on average were being published in Breton every year. The choice of genres was diverse, including
detective fiction
,
historical fiction
, and autobiographies. With incentives from educational contexts, contests and literary prizes, there has been a development of
young adult fiction
, often using fantasy and
science fiction
themes.
Yann-Fanch Jacq
is a notable author of such fiction aimed at young Breton-speaking readers. New more adult themes have appeared as the novel genre has developed: for example,
Yann Fulub Dupuy
's
Par Dibar
(2006) deals with sexuality.
[12]
Finally special mention should be made of the poet and singer
Denez Prigent
, whose creative career and international success (a rarity in contemporary France, as opposed to the epoch of
Jacques Brel
) testifies to the appeal of Breton artists.
Priziou
is an annual (since 1997) award for expressions of Breton culture in seven categories, of which fiction is one.
Prix Xavier de Langlais
(named after
Xavier de Langlais
) is an annual (since 1976) prize for best unpublished prose work or poetry collection.
In popular culture
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See also
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]
Notes
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]
- ^
Romuald Texier; Mark Kerrain; SAV-HEOL Roazhon (1995).
"The Breton Language? A Presentation"
.
- ^
Preview
[
permanent dead link
]
of the Leyden MS
- ^
"Untitled Document"
.
Archived
from the original on 2016-03-03
. Retrieved
2009-06-11
.
- ^
Gibson & Griffiths (2006).
The Turn of the Ermine
. London: Francis Boutle.
ISBN
1903427282
.
- ^
a
b
c
Parlons du breton!
. Rennes: Ouest-France. 2001.
ISBN
2737329272
.
- ^
a
b
c
Jelle Krol (2020),
Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors
, Palgrave. Page 226.
- ^
Jelle Krol (2020),
Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors
, Palgrave. Pages 226-227.
- ^
Jelle Krol (2020),
Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors
, Palgrave. Page 229.
- ^
"Per Denez: Writer and scholar who sought recognition for the Breton language and culture"
.
The Independent
. September 2011
. Retrieved
2016-12-31
.
- ^
Timm, Lenora A. (1986). "Anjela duval: Breton poet, peasant and militant".
Women's Studies International Forum
.
9
(5?6): 481?90.
doi
:
10.1016/0277-5395(86)90040-3
.
- ^
Simpson, Sir John Hope; Simpson, Lady Quita Hope (1996).
White Tie and Decorations: Sir John and Lady Hope Simpson in Newfoundland, 1934-1936
. University of Toronto Press.
ISBN
978-0-8020-0719-3
.
- ^
FAVEREAU, Francis.
"Quand le breton se met au roman"
(PDF)
.
Langues et cite 17
. Delegation generale a la langue francaise et aux langues de France
. Retrieved
25 August
2012
.
- ^
Tom Shippey
,
The Road to Middle-Earth
(1992) pp. 245-246, 320
References
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