This paper offers a fresh analysis of a number of aspects of Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, by bringing into the discussion the notion of ‘liminality’ as interpreted by postcolonial theory. After providing some historical background of the settlement that takes full account of the Argentinean perspective, we set out to explore the pronounced duality characteristic of the Welsh pioneers in Chubut in their stance as virtual colonisers and colonised. This double consciousness, which can be traced back to the very origins of the Fenter Fawr, is studied both in a general context and with particular reference to the complex relationship that developed between the Welsh immigrants and Patagonia’s original peoples.
'Y Wladfa: Settlement without colonisation?' Geraldine Lublin (2009)
Cynan, The Establishment and the 1960s' Revolution
Cynan (Albert Evans-Jones, 1895-1970) was one of the most prominent Establishment figures in Wales for a large part of the twentieth-century. He served as Archdruid twice and played a crucial role in the controversial decision by the Gorsedd of Bards to take part in the Investiture ceremony of Prince Charles in Caernarfon castle on 1 July 1969. He was also one of the authors of the National Eisteddfod’s Welsh-language Rule, a policy which he supported firmly during his period as President of the Eisteddfod Court towards the end of his life. In contrast, Dafydd Iwan was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Language Society, the protest group that adopted radical campaigning tactics during the 1960s. In this article, the clash between Cynan and Dafydd Iwan is seen as one representing a struggle about the very definition of Welshness at the time.
'The sound of fighting in our ears': Presenting the Great War in Welsh
The Great War was one of the most important events in Welsh history, the ramifications of which have seriously affected the society and culture of the country for decades. However, the history of the years of fighting has often been presented to a Welsh-speaking audience in an oversimplified way, emphasising the horrors of the War without considering the context. This study briefly traces how the way the War has been presented in Welsh-language programmes over the decades, before considering in detail some of the problems arising from that presentation of the slaughter.
(The voice of Welsh missionary women, 1887-1930)
This article explores the cultural implications of female celebrity acquired through involvement in the colonial missionary activity of the Welsh Presbyterian Church. Women were directed to perform particular functions in the process of constructing Christian communities in British colonies, among which were the conversion of other women and the provision of descriptions and explanations of the mission to a home audience. Along with lectures and sermons by missionaries on furlough, and missionary exhibitions, the main transmission route for this communication was the denominational missionary press. This article examines the ways in which the female missionaries presented themselves and their work to the audience at home in the missionary press between 1887 and 1930, and suggests that the images they presented, and the undertones that can be found in their writing, were the main inspiration for Welsh Presbyterian women to support the missionary cause, and form themselves into a remarkable movement that became a vital channel for the sponsorship of missionary work.
Lewis Edwards and the 'trahison des clercs'
This article focuses on three essays published on the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Immanuel Kant by the theologian and scholar, Lewis Edwards, in the Traethodydd between 1846 and 1853. Edwards is considered here as representative of the religious leaders of Wales in the second half of the nineteenth century. His work is examined for evidence of attitudes towards the philosophical developments of the period which could offer an explanation for his failure to defend Welsh language and culture in the face of the spread of English. The article argues that Edwards’ commitment to the speculative reasoning on which contemporary Calvinist theology was based prevented him from responding directly to the intellectual challenge represented by modern thought. In the three articles considered here, which present Kant’s thought as expressed in the first Critique, together with Coleridge’s philosophical theology as it is presented in his Aids to Reflection, we find clear evidence of Edwards’ unwillingness to accept any challenge to Calvinist philosophy. The picture he presents of the work of these two authors is defective and misleading. A major part of both Kant’s Kritik and Coleridge’s Aids is a destructive criticism of the baseless pretensions of speculative reason. Edwards chooses to ignore this entirely, so as to maintain his belief in the power of the human intellect to intuit truth without reference to empirical evidence. It is argued here that this wilful blindness to modern thought was an important factor in motivating the intellectual treason of which Edwards and his contemporaries stand accused. It is also suggested that this treason undermined not only Welsh language and literature, but also the Calvinist religion Edwards was determined to defend. In refusing to face the challenge of modern thought, Edwards left his students with no means of adapting traditional teaching to meet the requirements of a changing sensibility. The eventual result of that was a degree of alienation from the Nonconformist past, the effect of which continues even today
“No Mention of a Duw or a Dyn”: Investigating the ‘Northern U’ vowel in mid-Wales
The high central vowel, or the ‘northern u’ as it is informally called, is well known to be a characteristic feature of northern Welsh. Generally in north Wales, a clear contrast is heard between pairs such as ‘tŷ’ / ‘ti’ and ‘sur’ / ‘sir’. Conversely, since this contrast is neutralised in the south, these words are homophones, and are always pronounced with the high front vowel ‘i’. The main aim of this study therefore is to analyse quantitatively the way in which this contrast between ‘northern u’ and ‘southern i’ is lost in parts of mid-Wales. Consequently, the results will show the complex patterns of variation that arise in one particular ‘transition zone’, namely the Tywyn district, and demonstrate how speakers’ use of the high central vowel in this area is conditioned to a considerable extent by specific linguistic factors. Finally, this article will postulate that the interchange between the high front and the high central vowels is also related to variation in the length of diphthongs, and the implications of this theory will be probed.
From social drama to the pageant: theatre in the cultural exchange between Wales and north-east India
This article uses theatre as a lens in order to examine the cultural exchange between Wales and the Khasi and Jaiñtia Hills that is rooted in the history of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Overseas Mission present in north-east India between 1841 and 1969. Focusing on Khasi plays from the colonial period as well as an example of Welsh missionary performance staged in Wales in 1929, the article considers the extent to which Welsh conceptions of theatre and drama influenced native performances in the Khasi Hills, and correspondingly, to what extent the missionaries’ perception of India influenced the idea and the representation of the country in Welsh performative portrayals.
Gwerddon: Greening a desert? Some comments on the history of a Welsh-language e-periodical
The article considers the history of Gwerddon, a multi-disciplinary research e-journal launched in April 2007, which has to date (January 2019) published more than one hundred original articles. Its origins lie in the growth of Welsh-language teaching in Welsh universities in the 1970s and 1980s, the campaign to establish a Welsh-language federal college at a time when the federal University of Wales was in crisis, and the urgent need for Welsh-language scholarship to be equally represented in the research assessment exercises of the RAE/REF. The study considers the journal’s impact factors and its role in the development of a Welsh presence on the burgeoning web of the early twenty-first century, and argues that its continuation rests both on Welsh Government educational policy in general, and the financial resilience of the Higher Education sector at a time of severe challenges.
Health and salvation: medicine, the body and the moral order in colonial Bengal 1840-1935
Drawing on a rich seam of archival material on Welsh missionary activity in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Bengal, the article addresses ways in which care of the sick became a central, if problematic, part of Christian Mission. While the building of dispensaries, clinics and hospitals provided both a platform and a social visibility to the evangelisation process, they also exposed deeper tensions around the politics of gender and the implantation of Western medical practices in a colonised society.
Archwilio Cymru'r Oesoedd Canol: Testunau o Gyfraith Hywel
Mae'r ddogfen hon gan Sara Elin Roberts a Christine James yn cynnig cyflwyniad cyffredinol i Gyfreithiau Hywel Dda, sef cyfreithiau brodorol Cymru yn yr Oesoedd Canol, trwy roi 'blas' i'r darllenydd ar yr amrywiaeth eang o feysydd gwahanol sy'n cael eu trafod yn y llawysgrifau gwreiddiol - meysydd mor amrywiol â chyfraith Gwragedd a Gwerth Offer, Coed a Chathod, rheolau ynghylch Tir, a Thrais, a Theulu'r Brenin... I gynorthwyo'r darllenydd amhrofiadol, ac er mwyn annog astudiaethau yn y maes, gosodwyd y detholion o'r testunau Cymraeg Canol gwreiddiol ochr-yn-ochr â 'chyfieithiadau' ohonynt mewn Cymraeg Diweddar. Mae rhagymadrodd byr i bob pwnc yn ei dro, a llyfryddiaeth ddethol ar ddiwedd pob uned ar gyfer darllen pellach. Dyma gyfrol a fydd o ddiddordeb a defnydd i bawb sy'n ymddiddori yn hanes y Gyfraith, hanes Cymru neu lenyddiaeth Gymraeg yn yr Oesoedd Canol. Ceir llawer mwy o wybodaeth am Gyfraith Hywel Dda ar wefan Cyfraith Hywel:
‘Memory Contests’, narrative and history in Wehlau’s Heimatmuseum: Negotiating the complicated history and mem...
Between 1945 and 1948, up to twelve million Germans who lived in Eastern Europe were expelled following changes to the country’s borders. Many of these Germans resettled in the Federal Republic of Germany, where they came to be known as ‘expellees’. To commemorate their lost homeland, the expellees opened small museums dedicated to the areas of expulsion. This article explores the ways in which history and memory are portrayed in the museum representing the former East Prussian town of Wehlau. By investigating themes such as the representation of the homeland, the Second World War and the integration of the expellees into West Germany, this article will highlight the similarities, differences and tensions in the expellee and wider German memory culture.
‘What if this is Armageddon?’: Religion and the Welsh Press in the First World War
This paper analyses the Welsh periodical press during the First World War, with an emphasis on the way an important aspect of the Welsh war culture was constructed. As an integral part of civil society, the press represented a powerful platform from where audiences could be influenced, as contributors of prominent social standing presented, interpreted, and framed the war in particular ways and in accordance with personal beliefs and cultural traditions. This paper argues that a powerful religious discourse was constructed by commentators in the Welsh press with regards to the meaning and purpose of the war, with thoughtful consideration given to prophecy, salvation, and the coming of a new age where Christianity would play a central role.