‘Celtic Studies as an Academic Discipline in France, 1870s–2000s.’

A.J. Hughes, Éamonn Ó Ciardha (Editor), Frank Sewell (Editor), Alan (trans.) Titley (Editor)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The chapter provides a condensed history and analysis of some of the key developments in Celtic Studies in France over the last century and a half. France’s involvement with Celtic Studies stems from the country’s own Celtic past, with the Gaulish language in the pre-Roman period, and the survival of the Celtic present with the spoken dialects of Breton in Brittany.
The academic discipline of European Celtic Studies stems very much from the tidal wave of Indo-European Studies that swept Europe in the latter half of the 19th century. France, in conjunction with Britain and Ireland, takes the lead very much from German linguists.
In terms of France, a focus is placed on École Pratique des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne (Paris), as well as looking at Celtic Studies within the Collège de France (Paris).
Key figures include: Henri Gaidoz (1842-1932), Henri d’Arbois de Jubainville (1827–1910) and native Breton speaker Joseph Loth (1847–1934), born in Guémené-sur-Scorff, in the Vannetais area of Brittany. Others include Georges Dottin (1863–1928) and Joseph Vendryes (1875–1960). Of particular interest to Ireland is Marie-Louise Sjoestedt-Jonval (1900–40) whose two volumes of work on the Irish dialect of the Dingle peninsula in Co. Kerry (Phonétique d’un Parler Irlandais de Kerry and Description d’un Parler Irlandais du Kerry) in the 1930s rate among the finest produced monographs in the domain of Celtic dialectology before or since; and may be rated on a par with E. C. Quiggin’s pioneering A Dialect of Donegal (1906).
In the latter half of the twentieth century Edouard Bachellery (1907-1988) was very much to the fore succeeded by Leon Fleuriot (1923-87) and the subject is now maintained by notable scholars along the lines of Pierre-Yves Lambert and Xavier Delamarre.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford History of the Irish Book, Vol II. Edited by: Éamonn Ó Ciardha, Frank Sewell, Alan Titley,
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP)
Chapter67
Pages514
Number of pages522
Volume2
ISBN (Print)0199249768, 978-0199249763
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024

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