National identity and the English-language writer in Wales: Literature, politics and the problem of self-definition

Wales has been a subject nation since 1283 when English forces killed the last native-born Welsh prince to inherit the title. For seven centuries, however, Wales has maintained a separate national identity despite English attempts to eradicate its language and to assimilate Welsh culture. But the struggle is difficult. Only 14.5% of the population, for instance, currently speak Welsh. And increased economic interaction with England has curtailed the influence of traditional culture on contemporary Welsh life.;In an attempt to halt cultural erosion, the Welsh-speaking elite in the early decades of the twentieth century organized a movement to reestablish and preserve their culture even in the anglicized areas of the nation. Although espousing a nationalist political agenda, this group in reality practised cultural revivalism and established a hegemonic minority that defined national identity based on language: to be Welsh one must speak Welsh. But what about the English speakers in Wales? Are they not Welsh? And to what extent can they participate in a movement for political reform if a particular cultural and national identity (to which they have little access) are tied to that reform?;This dissertation emphasizes the English-speaking Welsh majority (the key players in Wales' political and linguistic future) as they are perceived by English-language Welsh writers. It considers how these writers react to a definition of national identity based on language use and how they create an appropriate sense of self while inhabiting the cultural border between Welsh-language Wales and England. Chapter 1 defines the Welsh- and English-language literary traditions, and Chapter 2 outlines the history of Welsh and English interaction. Chapter 3 examines the growth of Welsh cultural revivalism within the context of political nationalism. And each of the remaining three chapters investigates one generation of Welsh writers in English, the concept of "Welshness" common to that generation and the effect of that generation's output on a developing English-language Welsh literary tradition. The dissertation closes by evaluating the political and cultural future of a nation increasingly fragmented by linguistic competition.