De Nantes à Normandie

As so often happens, a recent discussion about one subject set me off on a tangent, which eventually got me here, writing this blog. The original discussion was about ‘lost’ folk knowledge, things that had fallen out of style or favor, and were no longer passed down except in books, and it reminded me of a rather special culture that I have an extremely vested interest in:

Who?

‘Les Bretons’, or the people of Brittany (a part of France indicated roughly on the map below) were Celts, and historically independent from both the French and the British.

There was a rather long history of struggles between French and Breton armies all through the middle ages, but eventually Brittany became part of France. In spite of being ostensibly French, ‘les Bretons’ held on to their way of life until the second world war, when, unfortunately, several Breton nationalist leaders collaborated with the Nazis to aid in the quick surrender of France.

Sadly, that betrayal led to a strong pressure to renounce ‘Breton’ culture and language after the war, and just like that, a beautiful culture began dying, taking with it much of what was best in it. At the end of the 20^th century, however, a general movement towards reintegration of Breton culture began. Slowly, much of Brittany is starting to resemble the proudly independent Celtic region it once was.

What were their traditions like?

In the past, the Bretons lived a lot like the other Celtic cultures with which they are most closely related. This short clip should give you some idea what they dressed like and the style of dance they performed (feel free to browse the links on the side if you want to see more)

The women wore very distinctive ‘hats’ which were often worked into their hair to keep them from falling as they danced. Their dances and songs had a definite Celtic feel, as you can see if you watch some of the clips. Probably the part of their culture that has survived best is their cooking; if you have ever eaten a crêpe, you are indebted to Breton culture for surviving the centuries! Many Breton traditional foods have become what we think of as distinctively French, crêpes and caramel most likely being the two most significant contributions.

Returning to the discussion of folk knowledge, one of the most amazing examples I have seen was when ‘une bonne mamie Bretonne’ showed me how to make crêpes; she handed me a bowl with milk in it and said, “I use this much for four people.” When I started to ask how much it was, she looked at me strangely and said “That much! Can’t you feel it?” She had learned from her mother, seventy years earlier, to measure her crêpes just by feel, she still remembered, and she was enormously proud of her skill!

While it is certainly true that much of the Breton culture is likely to never reach the level of folk knowledge again, there is still hope for some revival of the culture. The Breton language is again being taught (as an elective) in schools. People with Breton heritages are beginning to refer to themselves as ‘Breton’ in place of ‘French’, and some will even defend themselves if you try call them French. If things go according to plan, someday, it will be common for people to speak the Breton language to their families in their homes, and to speak French in public or at school, and when that happens, maybe some of what was folk knowledge will once again be passed on from parents to children and begin to be a living culture again.

This culture skipped almost two full generations, and it remains to be seen whether it still has the strength in it to recover from that loss. Even if it does survive, who knows how changed it will have been? Still, I’m very optimistic about the future of this beautiful culture.

Oh, did I mention? My fiancée, Camille, is from Brittany, hence the interest in the west of France. =)