Friday, July 8, 2011

for the Brittany girls.

Alright, all your girls out there named BRITTANY, listen up!

Here's some background on what you were named after.
Because yes, no matter what you say you were named after,
the place came first. I can PROMISE you that.
It's been called Brittany since Pangea.
Now, let the facts commence.

*In French, it is spelled Bretagne. It sounds beautiful with the accent.

*Bretagne was originally independent from France; its own country.

*They had their own culture, and their own language, very different from French; called Bretonne.

*500 years ago, Bretagne was forced by France to become part of their country. They unwillingly consented.

*100 years ago, French government forbade the language of Bretonne to be spoken, and completely forbade its existance. They changed every city and town name from Bretonne to French, translated every NAME from Bretonne to French, got rid of the language completely, or at least tried to. It was so looked down upon. Natives of Bretagne who lived during this time period had a very hard time telling the younger generations of families about this experience because it was so incredibly hurtful. They liken it to Hitler's Nazism. (Straight out of the mouths of the Bretagne natives themselves. Primary source. No wikipedia or internet was used in gathering this information.)

*But, the good news is that the culture of old Bretagne was kept alive, and is still preserved today (which I have gotten to experience). They have plenty of song, dance, food, etc. still around. Although the language is close to dead, the culture is still preserved.

*Because of this former independence, the region of Bretagne has a very strong nationalistic group of people. They love their region, and would almost put it before France. Everywhere in Bretagne you see their flag; they bear it proudly. They also have a regional symbol. I have yet to ask what it stands for, but I bought a little silver ring that has the symbol on it, so I will always remember Bretagne.

You girls who live with this name, show it proudly! You have an amazing history behind your name, please live up to it! Learn more about it, too. Discover where your name came from, and soak up the knowledge :)

Some of you may have already done so, and may have some words of disagreement on what I have said! I don't know where you got your information on your name, but hey, it would be safe to say that none of you got it from a native of the land themselves.. let's be honest.
You can't always trust Wikipedia.

Oh, and you're welcome.
That will be all! Have any questions or comments, please let me know. I would love to hear :)
Also if you want me to ask the natives questions about Bretagne/Brittany, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I only have a few more days here!

1 comment:

  1. Oh, does this mean you will be changing your name to "Emily Bretagne Brown" or just "Bretagne Brown" It sounds good and I kinda like it. Thanks for the history lesson. I wish you would post some pictures of YOU in France.
    Your parents are now in Europe, so start packing.
    Love you much,
    Grandma Bretagne (I like that)

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