Brittany was often attacked by the French state in its various forms, but remained independent until the 15th century. At the same time, its capital, Rennes, was in eastern Brittany, an area that was never Breton-speaking, only conquered from the French. The Breton aristocracy was gradually drawn into the prestigious French-speaking world, so that by the time Breton independence was lost, many were French in culture. This meant that--unlike in Ireland and Wales--there was no longer any structural support for secular Breton literature and learning. Breton monasteries were assimilated into the French monastic world, and also ceased to support Breton learning. The upper hierarchies of the Church became French. So almost no older Breton literature survives in Breton; only a handful of short medieval poems. The lais (poem stories) of Marie De France that were so influential in the early Middle Ages derive from Breton stories (many of the proper names are Breton), but they're in French. Some French authors of Arthurian literature also claim that they translate from Breton too, but this is uncertain.
That left everybody who wasn't a noble or well-off townsman talking away in Breton, singing and telling stories. They kept doing that until probably the 1920s/1930s, when the structures of French society increased their grip on Breton communities. The French have only astonished contempt for any language that isn't standard French, and never tired of telling Bretons and other savages that they were poor, dirty, pathetic cretins because they spoke Breton, Occitan, Alsatian or whatever. Breton children were very regularly punished for speaking Breton in school. (As were the Irish for speaking Irish, the Welsh Welsh, etc.) Though an interesting non-religious Breton literature grew up in the early part of the 20th century, most people only encountered written language through the medium of French.
Then came World War II and the conflagration of French patriotism that was a reaction to the German occupation. Also, in the 1950s, the peasant agriculture of Brittany was disintegrated by the new capital-intensive mechanized fertilizer-intensive agriculture. As a result, the structure of rural communities gradually also disintegrated, as fewer and fewer people could make a living there. Many emigrated to Paris to take menial jobs. French society was already very centralized in Paris, but now, with television, pop music and movies, its culture became inescapable in every community in rural France. More and more daily social interactions occurred in new contexts that were perceived as intrinsically 'modern', and therefore French. The new world spoke French, and anyone not completely at ease in the language was doomed to be a poor, dirty, pathetic cretin forever. The Breton intelligentsia was very weak. The peasant culture was demoralized. The Church turned to French. There was no center of resistance to what was happening.
Parents stopped speaking Breton to their children, in order to equip them to live in the new world, or because they didn't want them to be cretins, or because they wanted to be French or modern. The change happened at different times in different parts of Brittany. In most of Gwened province, it happened in the 1940s. In the areas of Kernow/Cornaouilles near the sea, and in many parts of Leon province, it occurred in the mid-1950s (or earlier in parts of the southern coast). In the more remote center of Brittany, it happened in about the mid-1960s. In inland Treger province and in nearby parts of Kernow, it happened in the mid 1980s.
There was a cultural revival in the early 1970s as part of the general Western European ethnic and countercultural movement. Breton language, music and became fashionable among some young people. Some of them even learned the language. The Diwan Breton-immersion private schools were founded, mostly in cities and towns. The divide between the new Breton enthusiasts in the cities and the peasants in the countryside, however, was rarely bridged. Many rural communities were still intensely Breton-speaking, but they became less so by the day, as older people who never got used to the idea of speaking French (or who couldn't) died, and younger people who were turning to French, and also their children, raised in French, became a more influential portion of the community.
A reaction occurred, beginning maybe in the 1990s. Parents in some areas demanded that the government permit the formation of elementary school classes taught mostly in Breton, so that children raised in French would learn the and use the language. These classes are very common today. Some communes (parishes/villages) use Breton in signage and on official forms. Thousands of children have passed through the Diwan private school system (all-Breton). There are a fair number of books published in Breton. There's a thriving Breton music scene, and local radio that broadcasts partly in Breton. (There's really no Breton permitted on television, though.) It would be possible to think that Breton is coming back from the brink.
Yet beneath the cultural ferment, older people who were raised in Breton continue to die (logically enough), and communities become more and more solidly French. Brittany is very very firmly integrated into French society and culture. Thirty years ago, Breton was an inescapable fact almost everywhere in Brittany; always there in overheard conversations on the street; in people's faces, in their voices. Now.....
The other problem is that schooling is only the first step in language acquisition and in language revitalization. The experience in Ireland and Wales shows that children can do their education in the minority language, but still never take the language outside of the schoolroom. Many children who learn Breton in school never become effective Breton speakers. Even the Diwan children probably more often speak French--actual French, or Breton so molded by French phonology and syntax that it's almost incomprehensible without a knowledge of French. A recent study shows that almost all of them end up living in other parts of France, or in the two big cities of Brest and Rennes, where Breton-speakers are a tiny tiny minority.
(In the video below, the first girl speaks beautiful Breton of the Gwened dialect--very very unusual for someone so young today. The phonology of the dialect is more close to western peasant French than are the other Breton dialects further west, but I love Gwened, so who cares! On the other hand, the girls in blue speak a 'French' Breton that, to me, is painful to listen to.)
There are areas where there's still a chance.
Mostly that's central Treger province--roughly within a circle going through Lannion east to Treger town, south to Guingamp, then west to Guerlesquin and north to Plistin say, and back to Lannion. The area is strongly Breton, and many people there want to keep Breton going. The areas just south (Calanhel, Bourbriac, Logivy-Plougras, etc, etc. are similar.
In the whole area centered around Carhaix, Breton is somewhat less strong, but still alive among older generations. Breton may survive in parts of the Bigouden area (the parishes west and northwest of Pont L'Abbe town to the sea, in far southwestern Brittany.) There is the island of Sein. There are some villages between Quimperle and Gourin (Querrien, Lanvenangen, Langonnet).
There are a few small areas in Leon province in the northwest, perhaps; Sizun; farming villages south of St Pol; Plouvien, etc, and maybe Guisseny/Kerlouan in the Pagan area.
In Gwened province, there's really only Sant Yann Bubry, Melrand, Quistinid and Languidic, plus some parishes between Languidic and Auray town (Lokoal, Brec'h, etc.)
Here's hoping....
In the meantime, here's what Breton sounds like:
Maurice Prigant is from Plounevez-Moedec west of Gwengamp. He tells a story about a friend of his who was so thin he was nicknamed 'The Sausage'. When he dies of a heart attack, his friends put a sausage in his coffin. St. Peter and a succession of others in Heaven are mystified until they consult with an old nun there. You don't need to know more.
Remi Ar Gallou is from just slightly further north, telling a story about Easter Confession.
Below Goulc'han Kervella, founder and director of Strollad ar Vro Pagan (a popular theater group), answers questions about the history of theatre in Breton. He's from Plougerneau on the north coast of the province of Leon, and after about three minutes, once he gets going, you can hear the lilting cadence of that dialect. Below him, a guy from east Leon, the general St Pol de Leon area. You don't have to wait three minutes in this one.
Below, two men from the Bigouden area look at and discuss a low-lying natural area between beach dunes, and farmed land.
If you want to hear more, the Brezhoneg Digor site has lots of tapes of speakers from Central Brittany. Put "Remi ar Gallou" in YouTube and you'll get lots of videos of storytellers from Treger near the Central Brittany "border."
Coming soon: Irish.
