Unleashing the Dragon...Gemsy's fight against cultural imperialism in Wales

I have been thinking a lot lately about heritage and nationality. Ben recently wrote something on his blog about American notions of superiority and it got me thinking about my own little patch of green. I think Ben's perspectives have changed a little since being in Japan, but maybe mine haven't. I have realised though, that in the future my beliefs and expectations may have to be compromised and changed...

Since before Taiyo (my new nephew) was born, I had wondered about what kind of school they would put him in. Unfortunately, I don’t think my brother and Nak are planning on putting him in Welsh school, which I am a little disappointed with. Unfortunately, despite their excellent records and better overall education, none of my nieces or nephews have gone to a Welsh school.

I was the only one out of my brothers to attend a Welsh school. Welsh schools are an important (no, absolutely crucial) part of maintaining and preserving Welsh language and culture. For hundreds of years, Welsh was an unofficial language. We were not allowed to vote, go to court or get an education in our mother tongue. In 1847, Welsh was effectively ‘banned’ in schools, after an English investigation of Welsh education. The investigation concluded that we were ‘Barbaric, primitive, ignorant, superstitious and morally degenerate’, because we spoke Welsh and practiced non-conformity and Methodism as opposed to CoE. In an effort to completely humiliate and side the Welsh against each other (think Roman ‘divide and conquer’ ethics…), the system of the ‘Welsh not’ was introduced.

Teachers were instructed to place a wooden plaque/plank around the neck of a child who was caught speaking Welsh. Those children were then made to pass on the ‘Not’ to someone else who spoke Welsh. The aim was to annihilate the mother tongue by ritual use of blame and degradation (like the ‘dunces cap’, if you will’). That investigation by the English has since been dubbed by Welsh historians ‘Brad y llyfrau gleision’ (or ‘Treachery of the Blue Books’, since the colour of the report conducted by the English was blue). Even my late Great-Grandmother growing up in the valleys, was slapped and caned in school when caught speaking Welsh.

Call me a mad nationalist, but I am convinced that the reason why there has been such an understated (if not completely non-existent or delayed) sense of Welsh national identity, is because the Welsh have never had a cohesive sense of ‘us’. I think this is partly because of the language divide. Lots of countries have ‘North’ vs ‘South’, but with the Welsh we are ‘Cymry di-Gymraeg’ and ‘Cymry-Cymraeg – or ‘Non-Welsh Speaking Welsh’ and ‘Welsh-SPEAKING Welsh’. Perhaps not too surprisingly, our politics are as wide as our language gaps, with the Welsh speakers typically voting 'Plaid Cymru' (The party of Wales) and the English speakers typically voting for the traditional working-class favourites; the 'Labour' party. Anyone who votes 'Conservative' (or 'Tory' as we call them) in Wales knows better than to publicise the fact. Margaret Thatcher is about as popular in Wales as George Bush would be at a Taliban Convention.

Getting back on track, I think the English did a very good, very ‘roman’ thing with Wales. They divided us very easily and they conquered us successfully, wouldn’t you say? The very fact that Wales had to wait until 1997 to get its own ‘Assembly’ Government is evidence of this.

So, yes I am a staunch advocate of Welsh-language education. I think a lot of second-language Welsh speakers feel a more pronounced sense of guilt for the fact they are not ‘authentic’ Welsh speakers. Not only this, but a certain sense of shame or loss for Wales because of our history. Our last notable stand against English oppression was in the 1400’s when Owain Glyndwr lead a rebellion against the English. Glyndwr set up a Government in Machynlleth, but the army were defeated after a treaty we signed with France failed to come through. (Bloody French). Wales lay in mute limbo for years then apart from small pockets of Nash’s and a few bombing campaigns in the late 70’s and 80’s, there’s been nothing too exciting.

There’s this thing called ‘Hiraeth’ in Wales. It has no English equivalent but it means to long for/miss/mourn something. So, I feel ‘hiraeth’ in a homesick kind of way for my home, and I also feel a ‘hiraeth’ for the past and for the future continuation of Welsh language and culture. It really irks me when I hear Welsh parents excuses for not putting their kids in Welsh schools ‘But I don’t speak the language…’ or ‘Oh, they’ll never cope with two languages...’ What?! Do you think your child is an IDIOT or something? Kids are like sponges, they ABSORB languages. Kids in European countries speak FOUR languages. I hate this Colonial British shit that says that everyone should all be mono-lingual. What could they possibly gain through not going to a Welsh school? Why would you encourage ignorance of the past by sending them to bland English schools – what the hell will YOU personally teach them about Wales and the place where they are from?

There is an added complication with my nephew Taiyo, because he is Japanese. He will grow up in Wales, but ethnically he is Japanese. So you could argue quite rationally that his Japanese heritage is more important. But one of the things that would scare me most would be living with the guilt and sense of loss that I would feel If I were to have a child and never put that child through a Welsh education. OK, so not everyone feels the same way about this. I have loads of friends who left school and never gave a crap about keeping up the language. I don’t know why it became so important to me, but it really did.

This has turned into rather a long and unexpected rant. I do apologise if you’ve come with me this far. I have been thinking of these things recently, you see what with the advent of baby Taiyo and my dearest friend and cousin trying for another baby back home in South Wales. I’ve been thinking of cross-cultural relationships in general, since my boyfriend is American and my sister-in-law (to-be) is Japanese. Is it really possible to maintain your heritage in an alien environment? Will there always be a bigger, louder, stronger culture that will dilute your own?

Come back to me in twenty years, I might have an answer for you.