Brittany during the Last Thirty Years: A Canadian Ethnographer’s Perspective

By Ellen Badone
English

This paper explores change and continuity in Brittany based on my fieldwork in Finistère between 1981 and 2011. My account is partial, based on the people, places, and social issues that I have encountered. I focus on four aspects of social life that are, in my opinion, central to conceptions of Breton identity: language, a sense of attachment to place, religion, and “cultural activities” (music, theater, festoù-noz, local festivals). I conclude that despite the incontestable changes in these areas over the past thirty years, it is nonetheless possible to discern a way of “being Breton” that is subtle and evolving, but distinctive and recognizable by local people as well as outside observers.

Keywords

  • identity
  • social change
  • religion
  • language
  • Brittany
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info