Leighton has been refreshing my blog page to see if I've updated it. He'll be pleased now. As I am posting this, I am lying in my bed, full of cold and with a severe headache. Here goes.
My research this week has been based around journals and documentaries. I've found a very fascinating (and long) journal from Aberystwyth University, entitled Welshing on Postcolonialism: Complicity and Resistance in the Construction of Welsh Identities (2009). The specific article I found was written by Owain Llŷr ap Gareth, who comes from Beddgelert. He discusses the name of the village and notes one important factor in the following passage:
"Does the fact that its [Beddgelert] 'founding myth' occurs after its naming have relevance to our ideas of signification? Does not the linking of this seemingly innocuous story to both colonial appropriation of literature, linked with the knowledge apparatus of Orientalism and the dawn of the popular press which transmits such fantasies to Britain, bring a different interconnection with Empire and so local and global interconnections?" (ap Gareth, 2009: 43)
This connects with the cynicism linked with this myth, as with any myth. To put it in a slightly informal manner, he begins this article by asking many questions, each of them valid. Another passage reads:
"And does the use of this story to provide a sanitised, stereotypical and kitsch view of Welsh mythology not illustrate a linking of the ideational field of Celticism and stereotype to tourism, and so the imperial economy? Is this not also a process of resignification that exposes ambiguities in translation, of wider processes, and of power relations, geography and history? This makes the 'placing' and 'naming' – the identity of 'Beddgelert' - ambivalent and 'unhomely'." (ap Gareth, 2009: 43 - 44)
Through this, he is analysing how the myth is linked to Celticism and links it to tourism, which is vital for what we're discussing. He outwardly criticises the naming of Beddgelert, in terms of association with the story of Gelert. This is a truly fascinating source, which we will hopefully be able to use for the practical piece itself.
I have also used journals to analyse tourism in Wales. Inevitably with Gwynedd, the topic of nationalism arose. No surprises there. These days, Welsh nationalism does not involve constant graffiti of "dal dy dir" or singing Dafydd Iwan's songs. It is actually far worse than that, in some aspects.
The above article is about Beca Brown, a broadcaster who basically stated that she hated the English and everything they stood for. A few people were shocked by this kind of attitude. I, myself, am completely used to it.
This article is about the controversy caused by then-Gwynedd County Councillor Seimon Glyn. He stated that people moving into Wales should be monitored and made to learn Welsh. The reason why I've included these articles is because this is an attitude that can be found all over Gwynedd. Well, with the exception of Bangor and Barmouth, probably.
This is why we've considered interviewing local people through the medium of Welsh. As I had alluded to in the previous blog, I am a fluent Welsh speaker. Thank goodness because, frankly, I would hate to be on the end of any abuse from Welsh people. That would scare me.
As I had said, I have used journals for research on tourism in Wales. A very good journal that I found was Annals of Tourism Research. In one particular volume, Susan R Pitchford analyses how tourism development in Wales has attracted the attentions of the Welsh Tourist Board and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg. She writes the following:
"The nature of tourism development in Wales has also attracted the attention of nationalist organizations. In its report on tourism in Colwyn, North Wales (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg nd), the Welsh Language Society opposes tourism development in rural areas on the grounds that it poses a threat to fragile Welsh-speaking communities." (Pitchford, 1995: 9)
The Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg are also quoted within the journal, discussing their views on how areas such as Colwyn Bay should be improved upon:
"Colwyn Bay should be developed as a Welsh resort by encouraging the use of Welsh on a large scale through its shops, including selling goods which use the Welsh language. Encouragement should be given to the talented local Welsh people to provide evening entertainment for the tourists, etc. There are very wide possibilities here, and advertising of these events should be aimed not only towards England, but especially perhaps, to Welsh people and to people from abroad who are looking for something different and special." (Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg nd:5).
Through this, one can analyse that tourism is a subject that should be handled very carefully within North Wales, so as not to destroy what the people hold dear to their hearts.
And finally, I can now reflect upon my audiovisual research. In short, I have watched a few documentaries on the History channel, mostly to do with how they analyse certain aspects of history. I also watched Blitz: The Bombing of Coventry (2009) to see how the documentary makers obtained the best and most emotive answers from each of their subjects. It was a truly fascinating documentary and it was great to see how the people of Coventry picked themselves up after such an atrocity.
I thought the Coventry documentary was specifically interesting, because it pinpointed one incident in history and explored how it has affected people to this very day. We are approaching our documentary in a similar manner, and hope to produce something as worthy as what I saw then.
References
BBC News. August 2001. BBC News.
BBC Wales News. January 2001. BBC News.
Blitz: The Bombing of Coventry. Dir. Ashley Gethering. 2009.
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg. "Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg: nd Colwyn: Tourism." Annals of Tourism Research 1995: 5.
Gareth, Owain Llyr ap. "Beddgelert." Welshing on Postcolonialism: Complicity and Resistance in the Construction of Welsh Identities (2009): 43.
—. "Beddgelert." Welshing on Postcolonialism: Complicity and Resistance in the Construction of Welsh Identities (2009): 43 - 44.
Pitchford, Susan R. "Ethnic Tourism and Nationalism in Wales." Annals of Tourism Research (1995): 9.
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