We visited the Celtica festival in Brittany several years ago - music, dance, poetry, drink, processions etc. There were representatives from the UK celtic groups (though only the Welsh and Scottish folks actually spoke their own language,) from Galatia in Turkey, and Galicia in Spain, and Ireland, of course.
The Bretons have been trying hard to revive their language, but its an uphill struggle as regional languages are frowned on in France, but it was interesting to watch them speaking to the Welsh and each understanding a lot of the other.
Downside - a lot of it looked like people dressing up in 20th century ideas of their folk costume and singing 20th century inventions of what their music may or may not have sounded like.
Have to say the Welsh and Scots really stood out in having a living continuous lingustic and cultural tradition. The rest seemed a bit like play-acting.
The Welsh do play-acting too e.g. at the National Eisteddfod, in ceremonies dreamt up by Edward Williams during the 19th century romantic revival in all things Celtic.
It's all a bit of exaggerated pomp, much like any other pageantry in any other country.
Breton is in a precarious state. Once the most prosperous of all the Celtic languages, with 1.5 million speakers, it is now in drastic decline, not least due to the centralized and draconian French government.
This idiocy won't stop until almost every county has its own 'minority status' and we are all sueing the pants off each other for racial/cultural abuse. Only then will we (possibly) realise that we've made a huge mistake. Then we'll start trying to begin a new Union and we will have spent £billions on the whole sorry mess.
The Welsh do play-acting too e.g. at the National Eisteddfod, in ceremonies dreamt up by Edward Williams during the 19th century romantic revival in all things Celtic.
It's all a bit of exaggerated pomp, much like any other pageantry in any other country.
Breton is in a precarious state. Once the most prosperous of all the Celtic languages, with 1.5 million speakers, it is now in drastic decline, not least due to the centralized and draconian French government.
My wife took up learning welsh when we retired. Last year we went to the Eisteddfod for her to get a learners prize from the archdruid. She turned out to be a charming lady dressed in slacks and a cardy. I felt properly short-changed!
You are right about Breton. Same for Provencal (close to Catalan.) The only regional language that has flourished in France is Alsacienne, and thats because it has gone back and forwards between France and Germany.
Interestingly the churches in France have services in the minority languages as a way to encourage regional identity etc.
On a broader note, I do worry when steps are taken to deliberately emphasise differences rather than similarities between peoples. Ukraine is an example of how it can go badly wrong.
We visited the Celtica festival in Brittany several years ago - music, dance, poetry, drink, processions etc. There were representatives from the UK celtic groups (though only the Welsh and Scottish folks actually spoke their own language,) from Galatia in Turkey, and Galicia in Spain, and Ireland, of course.
The Bretons have been trying hard to revive their language, but its an uphill struggle as regional languages are frowned on in France, but it was interesting to watch them speaking to the Welsh and each understanding a lot of the other.
Downside - a lot of it looked like people dressing up in 20th century ideas of their folk costume and singing 20th century inventions of what their music may or may not have sounded like.
Have to say the Welsh and Scots really stood out in having a living continuous lingustic and cultural tradition. The rest seemed a bit like play-acting.
When my mother was a child in Wales she remembers the Shawny Onions,or Johnny Onion, Bretons with their strings of onions on their bikes selling door to door, and her mother having a conversation with them, her speaking Welsh and he speaking Breton.
I thinks it great if it protects the customs and traditions and help keep alive the Cornish language. I think too much of the UK has become the same and we have lost the individuality of many of the regions especially in England. It will certainly add to the charm of a Cornish holiday.
How long before the BBC have a Cornish language channel.
My wife took up learning welsh when we retired. Last year we went to the Eisteddfod for her to get a learners prize from the archdruid. She turned out to be a charming lady dressed in slacks and a cardy. I felt properly short-changed!
You are right about Breton. Same for Provencal (close to Catalan.) The only regional language that has flourished in France is Alsacienne, and thats because it has gone back and forwards between France and Germany.
Interestingly the churches in France have services in the minority languages as a way to encourage regional identity etc. On a broader note, I do worry when steps are taken to deliberately emphasise differences rather than similarities between peoples. Ukraine is an example of how it can go badly wrong.
Yes, I agree. All that stuff about imagined communities, banal nationalism and invention of tradition etc. Yet self-determination and not being subsumed by another monolithic identity is also important in some cases. It can be a quandary.
Oh goody, another 'minority group' that can claim special rights and wag the dog.
Makes a change that this particular minority group is white. At least, the last time I checked, Cornwall was the whitest part of mainland UK, certainly the whitest county though Devon probably isn't far behind.
I thinks it great if it protects the customs and traditions and help keep alive the Cornish language. I think too much of the UK has become the same and we have lost the individuality of many of the regions especially in England. It will certainly add to the charm of a Cornish holiday.
How long before the BBC have a Cornish language channel.
The language is long dead as a living thing.
But I totally agree with your point about regionalism. Regions are much more distinct in the North, I think where geography has stood in the way of mixing.
Yes, I agree. All that stuff about imagined communities, banal nationalism and invention of tradition etc. Yet self-determination and not being subsumed by another monolithic identity is also important in some cases. It can be a quandary.
For me its about pooling and sharing and ensuring that fairness prevails. That's my view in the EU and Scottish independence too - but thats a whole other discussion (maybe not.)
Fed up with petty nationalists jumping up and down like spoiled toddlers shouting "Me, me, me!"
I think anything that helps preserve history and culture (including language) is a good thing.
But lets be honest, the Cornish people are no different whatsoever than the rest of us british. I can't see how they can be a minority ?
I wouldn't be surprised if Cornish people were a minority in Cornwall now, given all the English bods who've cashed in the huge capital gains on their urban houses and retired there, pushing property prices out of the reach of locals.
This idiocy won't stop until almost every county has its own 'minority status' and we are all sueing the pants off each other for racial/cultural abuse. Only then will we (possibly) realise that we've made a huge mistake. Then we'll start trying to begin a new Union and we will have spent £billions on the whole sorry mess.
Calm down Andy..
You may not have noticed but Racial\Cultural abuse is already common place in the UK, so why do you want to deprive Cornwall the recognition & status they deserve
On a broader note, I do worry when steps are taken to deliberately emphasise differences rather than similarities between peoples. Ukraine is an example of how it can go badly wrong.
It's a very tricky thing to navigate.
On the one hand, emphasizing difference makes wider society less cohesive and makes individual groups more insular. On the other hand, disregarding difference promotes a monotone community in which being different can be frowned upon, and people even persecuted.
How long before the BBC have a Cornish language channel.
I think that is very unlikely, though the BBC may help in the making of resources to help people learn it, should they wish.
A subsidised TV channel couldn't be justified for a language that is still only learnt by enthusiasts. I think only a very few people are fluent in Cornish.... and even then we wouldn't know if they were, as fluency is difficult to gauge in a reformed language.
For me its about pooling and sharing and ensuring that fairness prevails. That's my view in the EU and Scottish independence too - but thats a whole other discussion (maybe not.)
Fed up with petty nationalists jumping up and down like spoiled toddlers shouting "Me, me, me!"
Yes, it's interesting. National identity at its extremes is very ugly but exercising the right to regional identity against the power of the nation state is sometimes necessary, too.
It's a very tricky thing to navigate.
On the one hand, emphasizing difference makes wider society less cohesive and makes individual groups more insular. On the other hand, disregarding difference promotes a monotone community in which being different can be frowned upon, and people even persecuted.
Yes, being proud of your pasty recipe, without thinking that a cawl is culturally inferior. Or something.
This idiocy won't stop until almost every county has its own 'minority status' and we are all sueing the pants off each other for racial/cultural abuse. Only then will we (possibly) realise that we've made a huge mistake. Then we'll start trying to begin a new Union and we will have spent £billions on the whole sorry mess.
I think its a shame that the Cornish had to be made a "minority" before their heritage and language were guaranteed some kind of protection.
The one thing that annoyed me slightly this morning was a woman on R4 saying "well, we ARE special". No, no you are not special! There may be a disinct language and culture thats in danger of being lost like a lot of custom and heritage aorund the British Isles, but special? Different maybe, and equal, but not special.
I think its a shame that the Cornish had to be made a "minority" before their heritage and language were guaranteed some kind of protection.
The one thing that annoyed me slightly this morning was a woman on R4 saying "well, we ARE special". No, no you are not special! There may be a disinct language and culture thats in danger of being lost like a lost of custom and heritage aorund the British Isles, but special? Different maybe, and equal, but not special.
Not that different, even. 100% agree. I really dislike that sort of talk.
Comments
The Welsh do play-acting too e.g. at the National Eisteddfod, in ceremonies dreamt up by Edward Williams during the 19th century romantic revival in all things Celtic.
It's all a bit of exaggerated pomp, much like any other pageantry in any other country.
Breton is in a precarious state. Once the most prosperous of all the Celtic languages, with 1.5 million speakers, it is now in drastic decline, not least due to the centralized and draconian French government.
It was only a small clip, as the story itself was quite short.
Funny this has happened the day after St George's day!
Of course, I'm English!
Very good. How did you celebrate?
In that case you won't mind if the Cornish celebrate their language then.
My wife took up learning welsh when we retired. Last year we went to the Eisteddfod for her to get a learners prize from the archdruid. She turned out to be a charming lady dressed in slacks and a cardy. I felt properly short-changed!
You are right about Breton. Same for Provencal (close to Catalan.) The only regional language that has flourished in France is Alsacienne, and thats because it has gone back and forwards between France and Germany.
Interestingly the churches in France have services in the minority languages as a way to encourage regional identity etc.
On a broader note, I do worry when steps are taken to deliberately emphasise differences rather than similarities between peoples. Ukraine is an example of how it can go badly wrong.
When my mother was a child in Wales she remembers the Shawny Onions,or Johnny Onion, Bretons with their strings of onions on their bikes selling door to door, and her mother having a conversation with them, her speaking Welsh and he speaking Breton.
How long before the BBC have a Cornish language channel.
Makes a change that this particular minority group is white. At least, the last time I checked, Cornwall was the whitest part of mainland UK, certainly the whitest county though Devon probably isn't far behind.
The language is long dead as a living thing.
But I totally agree with your point about regionalism. Regions are much more distinct in the North, I think where geography has stood in the way of mixing.
For me its about pooling and sharing and ensuring that fairness prevails. That's my view in the EU and Scottish independence too - but thats a whole other discussion (maybe not.)
Fed up with petty nationalists jumping up and down like spoiled toddlers shouting "Me, me, me!"
I wouldn't be surprised if Cornish people were a minority in Cornwall now, given all the English bods who've cashed in the huge capital gains on their urban houses and retired there, pushing property prices out of the reach of locals.
Calm down Andy..
You may not have noticed but Racial\Cultural abuse is already common place in the UK, so why do you want to deprive Cornwall the recognition & status they deserve
It's a very tricky thing to navigate.
On the one hand, emphasizing difference makes wider society less cohesive and makes individual groups more insular. On the other hand, disregarding difference promotes a monotone community in which being different can be frowned upon, and people even persecuted.
I think that is very unlikely, though the BBC may help in the making of resources to help people learn it, should they wish.
A subsidised TV channel couldn't be justified for a language that is still only learnt by enthusiasts. I think only a very few people are fluent in Cornish.... and even then we wouldn't know if they were, as fluency is difficult to gauge in a reformed language.
And they do. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/connected/cornish/
I like this one.
'Formal' Farewells
Deb: Nos da!
Chris: Good night!
If there's enough call, they could produce a Cornish version of Colin and Cumberland.
They've done Welsh and Gaelic versions.
meanwhlie back on planet earth....
The one thing that annoyed me slightly this morning was a woman on R4 saying "well, we ARE special". No, no you are not special! There may be a disinct language and culture thats in danger of being lost like a lot of custom and heritage aorund the British Isles, but special? Different maybe, and equal, but not special.