Llydaweg: o Dabw i Deledu

Papur o Gynhadledd 2000 yr NAACLT. Llawer o bethau sy’n swnio’n gyfarwydd yma:

During the entire first half of the century schools did indeed punish children who spoke Breton, and went so far as to set up a system encouraging them to tell on each other, thus giving them a humiliating image of themselves.

Yet in the broader sense, the prohibition system is not limited only to schools. From the 19th century until the second World War, images of backward Bretons and of an insignificant and ridiculous Brittany were spread across France by way of literature, popular writings, travel guides, comic books, songs, figurines, etc. The comic-book character, Becassine, a good-for-all maid “so stupid but so devoted”, is a perfect illustration of the widespread image of Brittany as folkloric and ridiculous. As a result of all this, many generations of Bretons have harbored feelings of shame, even perhaps of self-loathing, leading them to repress their singularity – most notably the pleasure of practicing their mother tongue – as if these were inadmissible practices. Today this shame and self-hatred are far from having disappeared. They are latent among many Bretons, and especially present among those who felt particularly stigmatized for their language or their accents. Such is the case of Aline (a farmer born in 1960) who compares the Breton language to an infirmity.

AlineÝ: When I was little in school it was almost shameful to live in an environment like we had at home. I mean, to have parents who always spoke to us in Breton (Ö) We felt this to be a defect. And we had to hide it. So we considered it a bit like an abscess that we shouldn’t show. (Ö) In my opinion, that’s what it’s like. Like someone who has a lump on his back. It’s a handicap.
[rhagor]

Llawer mwy o stwff diddorol ar yr un tudalen. Bydd yn anymyneddgar – mae’n dros 450Kb.

One thought on “Llydaweg: o Dabw i Deledu

  1. Ac, fel dysgwr Cymraeg, mae hyn yn canu cloch:

    Nowadays, meeting a child who speaks Breton has entered the realm of possibilities for native speakers, but they still regard it as unreal and artificial. When this happens, the first thing they do is ask the parents whether the child attends a Diwan school. Then they attempt to exchange a few words in Breton with the child. But very rapidly they prefer to switch to French, considering that “they do not speak the same Breton” or that the child speaks “real Breton”. As long as native speakers remain passive witnesses to the cultural revival, the rate of transmission of the language will remain close to zero.