Tensions on the periphery: Breton druids in Cardiff (1899)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article moves beyond the more usual focus on hierarchical relations between “major” and “minor” cultures to contribute to the emerging debate on the importance of the relations of peripheries with each other, by seeking out the hidden tensions in a rich corpus of travel writing relating to a neo-druidic event in Cardiff in 1899, to which a group of enthusiastic Bretons, mostly from the ranks of the newly formed Union Régionaliste Bretonne [Breton Regionalist Union], were invited. The main texts analysed are by Anatole Le Braz, Charles Le Goffic, François Jaffrennou and Frañsez Vallée. These texts are in French, Breton and Welsh. The analysis reveals tensions within Breton regionalism as well as tensions between two minority cultures.