Studi var an astrou (1848) : des Lumières dans l’ombre

Abstract

Studi var an astrou (Brest, Lefournier, 1848) is probably the first scientific text in Breton. Publishing an astronomical treatise to educate the Breton population, in the middle of a 19th century literary marked by Bretonism and neo-Bardism, is a rare approach that differs strongly from the singularizing and identity motivations that prevailed at the time. In addition, the fact that the book and its author, Paul Lebreton, are both unknown to the panorama of publications in Breton leads us to identify who this writer was. Finally, another surprising point: this work was discovered through the autobiographical manuscript of a peasant, Julien Godest. This article therefore combines a study in archives, a study of the language of writing (dialectology and sociolinguistics) and a study of the content of this text, and proposes the hypothesis of a text emanating from the Morlaisian Protestant milieu and a pen in two hands: Guillaume Lejean and Guillaume Ricou.

Keywords

• Breton (language)
• scientific text
• astronomy
• Studi var an astrou
• Lebreton (Paul)
• Lejean (Guillaume)