Folk Literature and the Invention of Tradition: The Case of the Barzaz Breiz

Abstract Since its publication in 1839, the Barzaz Breiz has influenced the development of nationalism, folklore studies, and ethnography in Brittany. Presented originally as a collection of oral ballads, the work was later shown to consist of composite texts subject to extensive rewriting. As with the Kinder- und Hausmärchen and Poems of Ossian, the authenticity of the Barzaz Breiz has been the subject of extensive scholarly …