"Die Söhne des Glendower"

Name of traveller

Reiner Luyken (b. 1951)

Reason for travel

  • writing for German weekly newspaper Die Zeit

Date of travel

undated, ca. winter 1992-93

Ferienhäuser und Zweitwohnungen begüterter Städter haben tatsächlich – nicht nur in Wales – katastrophale Folgen für das dörfliche Leben. Sie treiben Immobilienpreise in für Einheimische völlig unerschwingliche Höhen. Oft zehn oder elf Monate im Jahr stehen sie leer, während junge Familien in feuchtkalten Wohnwagen hausen oder von der Wohnungsnot in die Stadt getrieben werden. Manch ein Ort wandelt sich im Winter zu einem lichtlosen Geisterdorf. (Luyken 80)

Content

  • history:
    • historical overview of Owain Glynd?r's (1355-1416) rebellion
    • overview of nationalist groups Meibion Glynd?r and Cyfamodwyr, their origin, development, ideology
  • language:
    • equates language pressure groups in Wales with political radicalism and moral decay
    • symptomatic for regionalism in the whole of the UK
  • people:
    • threats against a shop owner in Llangybi who refused to display a Welsh poster in his store, but insisted on a bilingual version, lead to closure of shop
    • parent initiative "Education First" against Welsh language education; organisers forced to move away by nationalist pressure groups
    • portrayal of R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) as poet, public face and conscience of Welsh nationalists
  • politics:
    • countless austerity measures in education except for Welsh language
    • author points out that pupils in former colonies, such as Zimbabwe, speak better English than children in rural Wales
    • interview with Siân Wyn Siencyn, member of a committee for Welsh-language education
    • public court hearing in Caernarfon against Cyfamodwyr
  • terrain: idyllic, quiet, rural Wales as backdrop for nationalist radicalism of Meibion Glynd?r group against English incomers
  • click here to read the full account

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

report; travelogue

Citation

Luyken, Reiner. "Die Söhne des Glendower." Die Zeit 5 (29 Jan. 1993): 80. Print.

Entry created: 14 November 2014
Entry last updated: 23 September 2016