Breton literature
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
Breton literature can be categorised into an Old Breton period, from the 5th to 11th century; and a
Leyden Manuscript
The oldest surviving manuscript in the
The Breton Gospel
Although written in
Glosses
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
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:
- Destruction of Jerusalem, fragments.
- Life of Saint Guénolé, fragments.
- Dialogue Between Arthur and Guynglaff, a very badly damaged 247-line poem passed down through multiple generations of copies.
- Life of Saint Nonn and Her Son Devy
- Buhez Sante Barba ("The Life of Saint Barbara"), a mystery play on the life and miracles of Saint Barbara.
Modern literature
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 François-Nicolas de Pascal de Kerenveyer and Sarmoun great war ar maro a Vikael Vorin by Claude-Marie Le Laë. Most literature remained oral, however.[5]
19th century
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
Increasingly, antiquarians and
Auguste Brizeux used Le Gonidec's standardised Breton for Telenn Arvor (1844), and his collection of proverbs, Furnez Breiz (1845).
In 1877,
20th–21st centuries
Even though the neo-bardic,
The 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 Drézen (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), Añjela Duval,[10] Reun Ar C'halan, Maodez Glanndour, Youenn Gwernig, Roparz Hemon, Ronan Huon, Paol Keineg, Kerverzioù, 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 Skañv (Glenmor), Youenn Gwernig, or Bernez Tangi, have also published poems and songs in Al Liamm.
Helias' contemporary Añjela 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
Prizioù 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
- In 1865 a literary translation of Barzaz Breiz into English by Tom Taylorwas published under the title Ballads and Songs of Brittany. The same book has also been translated into German, Italian, and Polish.
- The 1888 Preludes.
- Breton lay An Aotrou Nann hag ar Gorigann ("Lord Nann and the Korrigan").[13] The poem was first published in Welsh Review in December 1945 and then republished posthumously in an edition by Verlyn Fliegerin 2016.
- Pierre-Jacques Hélias' memoir Marh ar lorh ("The Horse of Pride") was adapted for the big screen by Claude Chabrolin 1980.
- In her 2009 album Yann-Ber Kalloc'h's most famous song, Me 'zo Ganet kreiz ar e mor ("I was Born in the Middle of the Sea"). The lyrics were first translated from the original Breton language into Fowlis' native Scottish Gaelic.
See also
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 1903427282.
- ^ 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.
- .
- ISBN 978-0-8020-0719-3.
- ^ FAVEREAU, Francis. "Quand le breton se met au roman" (PDF). Langues et cité 17. Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth (1992) pp. 245-246, 320