"Une arme de premier ordre": Representation of Breton and Welsh Languages in Revivalist Discourse around 1900
Abstract
The present paper examines the ways the Breton language is represented and perceived in the revivalist writings around 1900, with a comparative reference to the image of Welsh in the publications of Welsh revivalist authors in the same period. Without a doubt, the language was one of the most important arguments for any nation-building movement in claiming cultural and political rights.
In the process of promoting the language, the revivalists were nevertheless facing difficulties arising from the minority position of their language. These included, for instance, the language boundary in Brittany or the risk of being accused of separatism.
Therefore, the revivalist movements adopted different discourse strategies to represent the language, with the aim to appeal not only to its speakers but also to accommodate members of the majority language community, as well as an international audience. Therefore, the question is: What are the representational strategies the revivalist groups adopted to defend and promote the minority language in addressing the general public? How did they communicate the necessity to revive or keep a minority language to a non-speaker or a non-member of the nation? The main sources are relevant literature and publications by the members of Breton and Welsh revivalist movements.
Methods of discourse analysis will be applied in a comparative and transnational perspective of research.