Brittany colloquium – Fforwm Llydaw : a summary

Résumé : le colloque Bretagne – pays de Galles s’est tenu le 21 juin 2024 dans la chambre du conseil de la Bibliothèque nationale du pays de Galles. L’article revient en quelques lignes sur les interventions qui y ont été présentées.

  • 9h30 : Welcome – Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones (CAWCS), Rhodri Llwyd Morgan (NLW)

  • 9.45 :
Archives & databases : from archival item to knowledge graph – Jean-Baptiste Pressac (CRBC) & Marie-Alice Le Corvec (CRBC)

The first goal of a CollEx project is to provide digital copies of physical documents and to make the extracted data available in new or existing open source datasets. The presentation first explained why item-level descriptions of archival documents are a requirement in the context of digitisation and reviewed the various resources needed to complete an item-level description in the context of Dream-CollEx. The presentation also detailed how data from such descriptions were then queried, using sparql-endpoints such as those provided by Wikidata or Nakala (a French higher education service) and how the results provided new information about the global context of the archives and their creators, useful for research purposes.

Related articles :

Rebelle-CollEx : series on the digitisation process (in French)

Dream-CollEx : digitising the Lesquiffiou’s manuscripts (in French)

Dream-CollEx: using Sparql language to query Yves Berthou’s correspondance (in French)


Addysg dros y môr: Cymru wrth y llyw yn Llydaw, 1915–1960, o archifau personol Armand Keravel[Education across the channel: Wales leading Brittany 1915–1960,from the personal archives of Armand Keravel] – Catrin Mackie (Oxford University)

Catrin Mackie focused on how, during the 20th century, the Breton movement was influenced by Welsh initiatives to develop an education system in the Breton language. She explained the evolution of the Breton movement in relation to education in Breton, and explained how an unsuccessful attempt by the French government to be involved in the 1950s led to the renewed interest of Breton associations. Ar Falz, one of these associations, visited Wales in 1960. This action shifted the focus from studying the bilingual teaching methods to experiencing the cultural aspects of Welsh education. Her paper demonstrated the importance of Welsh support for the Breton movement, particularly in the case of Breton-medium education.

Related articles :

Dream-CollEx : “C’est le dragon rouge des Galles qui nous montrera la voie!” (in Welsh)

  • 11.00 :
    To Send or not to send birthday greetings: Joseph Loth and Welsh Celtic scholars(1884–1934) – Elisabeth Chatel (CRBC)

Elisabeth Chatel introduced the life of Joseph Loth, a Breton scholar who became an expert in Welsh literature. She explained his relationship with Wales, Welsh culture and Welsh scholars. In particular, she focused on the methodological issues which, in Loth’s time, created a competition between two schools of thought that separated him from his Welsh colleagues.

    Iaith dramâu Llydaweg y 18fed ganrif [The language of 18C Breton plays] – David Willis (Oxford University)

David Willis talked about the Breton folk dramas in Roparz Hemon’s collection, held at the National Library of Wales. He examined the possibility of studying these manuscripts to trace the development of the Breton language in the modern period and to compare them with contemporary uses from the same region of Brittany in which they were written.

    Charlez a Vro C’hall, alias Siarl o Fro All, ha Bro Gembre [Charles de Gaulle (1837–1880) and Wales] – Nelly Blanchard (CRBC)

Nelly Blanchard presented the involvement of Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) in Brittany in order to understand the divisions among Welsh archaeologists at the time, which then spread to Breton circles, giving rise to opposing schools of thought and two competing institutes. She explained the origins of Charles de Gaulle’s engagement in Celtic Studies, how his ideas about the Breton language and culture spread through Breton circles, and his relationship with Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué, whom he saw as a leader while maintaining contact with Welsh scholars with opposing views on their subject.

  • 2.00 :
    La délégation de 1947 [The delegation of 1947] – Sébastien Carney (CRBC)

Sébastien Carney focused on the 1947 Welsh delegation to Brittany, which came about after the publication of texts on how the French justice system had victimized members of the Breton movement after the Second World War and led to the official publication of a report after the visit. He drew attention to the current lack of research on the subject and on the events, referring to the publications edited by members of the Breton movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and to the more recent works published mainly by Welsh academics. He also mentioned the significant amount of resources available at the National Library of Wales on the subject.

    Ideolegau seciwlar y cenhadon yng Nghymru a Llydaw [Secular ideologies of the missionaries in Wales and Brittany] – Richard Glyn Roberts (CAWCS)

Richard Glyn Roberts spoke about the parallels between Wales and Brittany for missionaries. He referred to publications on the history of Protestantism in Brittany, published in France and in Wales. He mentioned the unpublished work of Dewi Morris-Jones, whose archives could be a useful resource for such a history. He then talked about the history of the mission, the relationship between missionaries and the Catholic Church, and the need to study it from a multilingual point of view to allow for comparison.

    Rhy Ewropeaidd er ei les ei hun: ‘Kelt’ Edwards a’i rwydweithiau [Too European for his own good: ‘Kelt’ Edwards and his networks]- Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan (independant scholar)

Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan focused her presentation on John Kelt Edwards’s European network and how he built it up through his own career as an artist. She described his time in Paris as a student, where he met François Taldir Jaffrennou, a Breton regionalist, leading to their collaboration and involvement in the Pan-Celtic movement. Paris was a place where Kelt met many other Bretons, even as he studied and developed his artistic talent. Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan explained how this influenced both his views and his lifestyle, and created a distance between him and conservative Welsh leaders, when he returned to Wales in 1914.

Related article :

Dream-CollEx : Dechrau darganfod archifau’r Cymry yn Llydaw (in Welsh)

    Dornskridoù brezhoneg, dreist ar mor [Breton manuscripts across the channel] – Ronan Calvez (CRBC)

Ronan Calvez focused on the studies carried out on the Breton manuscripts held in the Roparz Hemon Collection at the National Library of Wales, explaining why they were carried out and what their impact has been. He pointed out that ten of these manuscripts have yet to be studied, and that studying the collection as a whole could highlight the relationship between French and Breton theatre, and show the influence of the Jesuit colleges and the Bibliotheque Bleue on the texts. The Dream-CollEx project will help by bringing together texts from different collections that belong to the same genre (passion, mystery…), making it easier to compare them.

Related article :

Dream-CollEx : Breton manuscripts of the NLW (in French)

  • 4.00 : Closing words.

OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Dream-CollEx (9 juillet 2024). Brittany colloquium – Fforwm Llydaw : a summary. DreAM-CollEx. Consulté le 12 janvier 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/11z5m


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