Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE 12-2013 In Search of a Single Voice: The Politics of Form, Use and Belief in the Kernewek Language Jesse Owen Harasta Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the European Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Harasta, Jesse Owen, "In Search of a Single Voice: The Politics of Form, Use and Belief in the Kernewek Language" (2013). Dissertations - ALL. 22. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/22 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract This dissertation is based upon fieldwork performed between 2007 and 2011 in Cornwall, a region of Southwestern Britain notable for its ambiguous ethnic identity – caught between England and the Celtic nations – and its unique, revived Celtic language, Kernewek. During the course of the research, work focused upon the role of the language revival movement as a tool for ethnic identification: hardening boundaries, shoring up faltering communities and nationalist purification. However, the language movement is divided into three primary factions, which take differing approaches to the language, and to their corresponding language ideology based upon their relationship to Cornish identity. These relationships are based upon speakers’ sense of ethnic self as formed through class, kinship, linguistic self-perception, religious and political affiliations and place of birth and childhood. However, since the 2006 recognition of the language by the British states, all of these debates have become intensified due to pressure to standardize. This study examines specific examples including: teaching materials and pedagogical approaches in the language, debates over the minutiae of spelling, aesthetic sensibilities, and practices of the naming and renaming of people and places. IN SEARCH OF A SINGLE VOICE: THE POLITICS OF FORM, USE AND BELIEF IN THE KERNEWEK LANGUAGE by Jesse Harasta B.A., SUNY Geneseo, 2005 M.A., Syracuse University, 2009 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology. Syracuse University December 2013 Copyright © Jesse Harasta 2013 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgments I would like to thank everyone who assisted me in this project. My academic adviser, John Burdick, has been an invaluable counselor, editor and cheerleader for years now; alongside his work, I must also recognize the remainder of my committee: Susan Wadley, Hans Buchler, Shannon Novak, Bernard Deacon and Jaqueline Urla, as well as chair Christine Himes. There are numerous other educators who may not have sat at that table but were crucial in getting me to where I am today: Paul Pacheco, Rose- Marie Chierici, Ellen Kintz, Deborah Pellow, Zhiming Zhao and William Kelleher among them. My thanks go out to my neighbors, with whom I co-own the Syracuse Cooperative Federal Credit Union, and who generously supported this research with necessary funding for my fieldwork. I also thank the Maxwell School Dean, and the committees of the Claudia De Lys Scholarship and the Goekjian Scholarship for their support at various points. Likewise, I am thankful for the support and solidarity of friends, colleagues and housemates, including Bread and Roses, Brendan O'Connor, my writing partner Jennifer Williams, and everyone that I have TAed or studied with. Of course, this research would not have been possible without the support, hospitality and acceptance of the people of Cornwall including (but certainly not limited to): Lynda Green, Tristan Berry and all of the wonderful librarians and staff at the Kresen Kernow, Adrian and Lindsay Rodda, John Fleet and his entire family (especially thanks for Thanksgiving), Shelley Trower and Chris Stuchberry, Garry Tregidga, Bernard Deacon, Philip Payton, Neil Kennedy, Clive Baker, Frances Bennett, Emilie Champliaud and Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, Julie Tamblin, Mick Paynter, Pol Hodge, Martyn Whitford, Dee Brotherton, Will Coleman, Russell Pascoe, Tony Leamon, Loveday Jenkin, Mike Chappell, Jean Charman, John Rowe, Jackie Harding and the bridge players, Alan Kent, Jenefer Lowe and the staff at MAGA, the musical Daveys, and Joanie Willett, Nicholas Williams, Christine Wilson and all of the lunch crowd at the Sandwich Stop, the members of the Kesva, Kowethas, Agan Tavas, and the Cussel. Thanks to everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this project, some of whom have preferred to remain anonymous. You are much appreciated and I hope this document is worth your troubles. Finally, as is both traditional and fitting, I thank my family for their unwavering support: my parents who stood by me emotionally and - at times - financially and my brother. Of course, I must thank Julian and Carolina, I couldn't have done it without your help guys. Thank you to anyone who, inadvertently, I have left off this list. So many people helped in this project that a single page could not list them all. I can assure you that no offense was intended. Of course, despite this invaluable assistance, any errors in this work are mine. iv Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................ V CHAPTER 1: “TOPPING UP YOUR CORNISHNESS” ................................................................................................... 1 “I DON’T CARE HOW THEY SPEAK, BUT…” ......................................................................................................................... 1 KERNEWEK IN ITS CONTEXT ..................................................................................................................................... 3 STANDARDIZATION AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE STATE ................................................................................................................ 8 INDEXICALITY—MARKING THE WORLD THROUGH SPEECH ............................................................................................. 12 LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY—THE HINGE BETWEEN SPEECH AND BELIEF ................................................................................. 16 KERNOW A’GAS DYNERGH, CORNWALL WELCOMES YOU .....................................................................................................20 AUTHENTICITY, IDENTITY AND PURITY ............................................................................................................................ 24 THREE SYSTEMS, ONE LANGUAGE? ............................................................................................................................... 29 KEMMYN- A SINGULAR STANDARD ............................................................................................................................................. 32 UNIFIED: IN THE SCRIBAL TRADITION ............................................................................................................................. 36 LATE: THE DARK HORSE ........................................................................................................................................................39 THE LAY OF THE LAND ................................................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 2: A LAND OF CONTRASTS ........................................................................................................................ 46 THE VIEW FROM CARN BRAE: THE LAND OF CORNWALL ............................................................................................ 48 SHANE AND THE CORNISH RIVIERA: THE NATURE OF CORNWALL ............................................................................. 54 DENZEL AND DICK TREVITHICK: THE PEOPLE OF CORNWALL .................................................................................... 64 MINES AND MAGAZINES: THE AESTHETICS OF CORNWALL ......................................................................................... 73 LANGUAGE IN THE CRACKS BETWEEN – GHOSTLY PRESENCES AND MODERN DREAMS ....................................... 81 CHAPTER 3: GOLDEN AGES ........................................................................................................................................... 86 TRADITIONAL KERNEWEK: THE 8TH TO THE 18TH CENTURIES ............................................................................... 88 POST TRADITIONAL KERNEWEK (1800S-1876) ..................................................................................................... 93 THE ROOTS OF THE REVIVAL: LITERARY PRETENSES, LITERAL TENSIONS (1876-1928) ............................... 96 KERNEWEK UNITED (1928-1985) ............................................................................................................................ 108 A MOVEMENT DIVIDED (1985-1988) ...................................................................................................................... 114 THE SPELLING COLD WAR (1988-2002) .................................................................................................................. 120 A COMPARATIVE APPROACH