"Un dro e Kembre"

Name of traveller

Youenn Olier (1924-2004)

Reason for travel

• unknown

Date of travel

1969

Ar pezh a sko spered ar gweladenner ez eo da gentañ an doare sevenadur broadel dibar a zo o kreskiñ a-hont. Diniver eo an embannadurioù kembraek e-keñver hor re-ni . . .. (Olier 201)

Content

• customs:
  • discusses religion and the Catholic church as a minority in Wales
  • most importantly, the Welsh people are kind
• language:
  • Welsh has long been the language of religion, i.e. the people's culture
  • establishment of Welsh schools thanks to English legislation; similar development in Brittany would be impossible
  • people he meets at the City Hall in Cardiff are all Anglophone
  • discusses Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg
• literature:
  • discusses the state of Welsh publishing and compares it to the situation in Brittany
  • quality printing produced in Wales; production of newspapers in Wales
  • discusses Welsh writing in English and compares it to Francophone literature from Brittany; mentions writer Paol Keineg (b. 1944)
• politics:
  • thanks to a lesser degree of centralisation, Wales is in a better situation than Brittany, although nationalists in Wales are similarly confined by the worldview of the dominant language culture
  • finds that Plaid Cymru has taken root, but not yet in a powerful position to effect any change

Nationality of traveller

Breton, French

Language of publication

Breton

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

essay

Citation

Olier, Youenn. "Un dro e Kembre." Al Liamm 140 (1970): 201-9. Print.