Cultural Erasure:
Welsh Culture Being Forcibly Lost due to British Involvement
Welsh culture is one that has been present since before human memory. It was there in the times of fairies, druids, mermaids, and mythical monsters--one could say they originated there, real people and real history warped by time to give us fantastic legends. The story of King Arthur began there, along with many other characters who have become far more childish than they originally were. Despite the ethereal beauty of the culture, however, it is rapidly disappearing due to the remaining influence of the British attempts at erasing Welsh culture. Beginning right after the Anglo invasion, the English tried to suppress both the learning of the Welsh language as well as the preservation of Welsh culture. This history and culture has all but disappeared, and the erasure needs to stop. Welsh culture needs to be preserved as its own unique culture, as one that has been the roots of many parts of British culture, as one separate from the British, and as one that is finally being revived after years of repression.
For centuries, England has worked hard to annex Wales that they have systematically erased the Welsh culture, punishing students who spoke Welsh in school, removing the language from legal affairs, and refusing to acknowledge the presence of Welsh culture in the North. The attempt to control Wales was impractical and bigoted, based on an unreasonable distaste for the language and farm culture. Just like any culture, Wales lost many of its identifying aspects when it began to be controlled by the English. England has tried, many times succeeding, to change Welsh culture to fit better with their ideologies; this effort has caused an erasure of Welsh history and stories. The erasure has made Wales seem insignificant in developing British and Western culture, when, in reality, most of what was taken from the Welsh is still present and simply thought of as belonging to England, such as the story of King Arthur and legends of druids.
This appropriation has created the issue of synonymising Wales and England, even into the present day. “'For Wales-see England.' This notorious directive in the early editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica crystallizes all the emotion, the humiliation, and the patronising indifference which helped to launch the national movement in Modern Wales” (Morgan 153). Lumping two separate countries together is hurtful to culture, and incredibly ignorant. Lumping them together in such like an encyclopedia, however, is even more damaging. It popularizes the belief that the two are one and the same, and erases the ability of Wales to be seen as an independent principality. With Wales being so different from England, it is damaging to equate the two as it only helps to erase culture. According to Kenneth Morgan, “A sense of nationality is as old as the Welsh themselves. Bede commented on the sense of difference between the Welsh and the Anglo-Saxons at the time of the coming of Augustine in 597. It provided a constant theme for Welsh poetry and prose throughout the middle age” (154). This only goes to show that Wales has been an independent nation from the beginning, and should be able to continue for as many centuries.
“Despite the vigorous survival of the Welsh language, despite the perpetuation of a distinct Welsh society based mainly on small farms of the peasant type, the official mind still saw Wales and England as inseparable. Or, in the reiterated litany of Westminster politicians, 'there was no such place as Wales’” (Morgan 155). Though there is a living language of Wales, the attempts to erase it completely by the British show even today. Having a living language is definitely a bonus for cultural awareness, but it is not enough to sustain a culture, especially when access to Welsh resources is severely limited. If more attention is paid to the incorporation of Welsh and Welsh culture, the erasure can stop and some of the damage that has been hurting Wales for centuries can be reversed.
Though Welsh culture has been forcibly smothered, there is finally an opportunity to bring it back. In this era of technology, computers allow easier access to many other cultures and appreciation of their beauty and importance. This doesn’t happen easily, however; there must be an effort put forth in many areas to help less-known cultures have a representation in society. This effort includes learning what has been done to stunt their acceptance and help them to come back from the hits smaller cultures have taken. We have been watching other minority cultures finally fight back during this digital age, against former aggressors who based their hatred on race or religion. Oppressed cultures are now able to educate others using resources and organizations that network through the web. “Stern Puritanism banished the ancient Celtic traditions” (Johnson), but we are now able to stop the religion and racial hate. Using technology, we can force the gaps between cultures and socioeconomic statuses to close between the Welsh and British.
There is also more information readily available, such as potential aid given to lesser-known and oppressed cultures. “Responding to a written question tabled by Sian Gwenllian AM, the minister for the Welsh language Eluned Morgan confirmed that the Welsh Government had spent only £185,000...to invest and develop Welsh medium digital technology”(“The Welsh Language ‘at a Disadvantage’ Online Compared to Other Languages”). There has been a shocking lack of effort to promote the presence of Welsh support on digital platforms. With the world turning more to technology quickly, multilingual and multicultural support online and on computing platforms is necessary to give cultures a chance of survival.
“A much more significant feature of Welsh nationalism since 1918 has been the cultural campaign. In practice, this has meant quite specifically a struggle to protect and encourage the Welsh language” (Morgan 170). There should not be a struggle in the digital age to retain cultural identity or language as the internet was specifically created to be equal to all, to let everyone else have a voice. This so-called equality should include more minorities, including their languages. The Welsh language, a unique, beautiful embodiment of the Welsh culture, should be better supported.
Welsh culture, though seemingly obscure, has greatly helped to develop the English culture we see today. Many Welsh stories, myths, and traditions have kept their place in our society. Not many people are aware of their origin, instead ignoring it altogether or crediting the British. Though their presence is an intrinsic part of many of our fairy tales, the lack of knowledge about the Welsh culture is carrying the legends far from their original beauty. Many legends have been lost to time itself. As Owen writes, “It is difficult to fix the date...for they are dressed in modern garbs, with, however, trappings of remote times...in reality they belong to that far-off distant period, when the prehistoric inhabitants of this island dwelt in Lake-habitations, or in caves. And the marriage of Fairy ladies, with men of a different race, intimates that the more ancient people were not extirpated, but were amalgamated with their conquerors.” The present has altered legends and their beginnings have been all but lost. Though they may have already been altered by the time other cultures incorporated them, the culture creating the myths deserves credit. We should rediscover old stories in order to better appreciate their beauty. A lack of reverence given to older stories is erasing the culture surrounding them, including history that was not recorded as well as it may have been. “Perhaps they are one and all fragments of the same story. Each contains a few shreds that are wanting in the others” (Owen). “The tales record characters and events from several centuries earlier, including mention of a revolting Roman Emperor and even reference to the Arthurian legend” (Johnson). History is being lost and changed because of the lack of attention paid to less-known cultures, and being chosen by the amount of people that bear witness to those events. By all accounts, this is a completely unfair and dishonest way of recording history.
Erasure of Welsh culture is slowing down, but still present. We need to remove the digital divide hindering Welsh from reaching the public. We need to help the Welsh culture survive and continue developing by appreciating the differences between the Welsh and the English. Welsh culture has helped us along more than many know.
References
Johnson, Ben. “Traditions and Folklore of Wales.” Historic UK, Historic UK
Ltd. Company, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Traditions-f
olklore-of-Wales/.
Johnson gives a brief analysis of many of the traditions from Old Wales that have been modernized or preserved. He also gives some of their superstitions and a few summaries of classic stories.
Morgan, Kenneth O. “Welsh Nationalism: The Historical Background.” Journal
of Contemporary History, vol. 6, no. 1, 1 Jan. 1971, pp. 153–172. SAGE Journals, doi:10.1177/002200947100600109.
Morgan gives a very in-depth analysis of the shifting views of political opinions of Welsh nationalism over their whole recorded political history. It shows independence from the viewpoint of both the Welsh and British.
Roberts, Brynley F. Oral Tradition and Welsh Literature: A Description and
Survey.
Roberts gives another deep look into the remnants of Welsh literature present today as well as their oral traditions. He explores the potential, scientific explanation behind the oldest fairy tales, and gives a glimpse into the writing styles developed after the Welsh adoption of the Latin alphabet.
“The Welsh Language ‘at a Disadvantage’ Online Compared to Other
Languages.” Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales, Plaid Cymru, 6 Aug. 2018, www.partyof.wales/the_welsh_language_at_a_disadvantage_online_compared_to_other_languages
This article explains the significant difficulties present in the digital age to minority languages. It gives some ideas into potential ways to give more popularity to languages with a small population of speakers, specifically Welsh. It also highlights the error of the English government in their lacking effort to help support the regrowth of the Welsh language.