vendredi 14 juin 2013

"Du passé, faisons table rase"... Le mythe du "génocide originel": du Moyen Age à nos jours.


 

Le texte primitif de l’Historia Brittonum, chronique attribuée à Nennius et compilée en Gwynned (Pays de Galles) vers 830, a souvent été interpolé. Une glose conservée par deux manuscrits du XIIIe siècle revient sur le surnom des Letewicion («Létaviens») attribué aux Bretons armoricains pour en donner une étymologie fabuleuse (semi-tacentes). Le terme se décomposerait en led-tewi (led : « moitié » et tewi : « se taire ») parce que « les Bretons armoricains parlent confusément ». L’interpolateur évoque ainsi la légende du « génocide originel » que Le Rêve de Maxime (Breudwyt Maxen) associe au personnage de Kynan (= Conan Mériadec). Complice de Maxime dans sa conquête du continent, ce dernier aurait massacré tous les indigènes mâles de la péninsule. « Alors Kynan (= Conan) dit à son frère Adéon : "Que veux-tu, demeurer dans ce pays ou retourner au pays dont tu viens ?". II fut d'avis de retourner au pays et beaucoup d'hommes avec lui. Kynan resta avec l'autre partie pour l'habiter. Ils résolurent de couper les langues des femmes pour que leur langue ne fût pas corrompue. Du fait que les femmes étaient silencieuses, on les appela Létaviens [jeu de mot sur Llydaw / Letavia], Et par la suite vinrent et viennent encore de Bretagne des hommes parlant cette langue. ».  Ce mythe ethniciste dont les racines remontent aux xie-xiie siècles constitue par la suite « une pièce importante, sinon essentielle, d'un certain "nationalisme" cultivé dans des milieux proches de la cour ducale de François II (1458-1488) et de ses prédécesseurs immédiats » (Cf. Jean-Christophe Cassard, « Le génocide originel: Armoricains et Bretons dans l'historiographie bretonne médiévale », Annales de Bretagne et des pays de l'Ouest, vol. 90/3 (1983), p. 416).
L'Histoire des rois de Bretagne de Geoffroy de Monmouth articule  la légende de Conan avec celle de sainte Ursule.

 

Avec la vogue des analyses ADN, le motif du « génocide originel »

reprend du service en Irlande.

Témoin cet article récent du Irish Times :  

 

« A controversial theory holds invaders from Iberia may have massacred much of Ireland’s male population. Did you know Ireland has the highest concentration of men with the R1b DNA marker? No fewer than 84 per cent of all Irish men carry this on their Y chromosome. While this marker is also high on male Y chromosomes in parts of Britain, particularly Wales, according to commercial ancestry testing company IrelandsDNA, the high prevalence here may indicate the arrival of a lot of people at a broadly similar time who weren’t prepared to peacefully co exist with the settlers here.




The remains of a Bronze Age body found in Collinstown, Co Westmeath.

“The high prevalence rates have always perplexed Irish geneticists and historians,” says Alastair Moffat of Irelands DNA. The firm’s research proposes a new hypothesis. There is already established evidence suggesting that the first farmers, (carrying the Y chromosome lineage of ‘G’, which can be found across Europe) arrived in Kerry about 4,350BC.
 According to Irelands DNA, the so called ‘G-Men’ may have established farming in Ireland “but their successful culture was almost obliterated by what amounted to an invasion, even a genocide, some time around 2,500BC” (the frequency of G in Ireland is now only 1.5 per cent) […]. This strongly suggests incoming groups of men. Because the R1b marker is still so prevalent in Ireland and is also frequently found in places like France and northern Spain we believed that around 2,500 BC, the R1b marker arrived in Ireland from the south.”

Moffat admits it is just a hypothesis but cites connections which lead to this theory. “ The first signs of farming in Ireland were found on the Dingle peninsula in Kerry, which suggests people coming from the south,” he says. “If you look at Lebor Gabála Érenn (=The Book of the Taking of Ireland, a Middle Irish collection recounting mythical origins of life in Ireland dating from the 11th century) most of the invasions come from the south.” The southern migrants referred to by Moffat were the Beaker people, originating from Iberia. [...] Moffat cites archaeological evidence, from the Copper Age, to suggest this movement. […]  How did these new people impose themselves in such a big way,” he asks. “It has to have been through conflict. The early people were farmers so they invested generations of effort in improving the land. When these new people show up they must have used violence to shift the ‘G-Men’. The frequency of ‘G-Men’ is tiny in Ireland. Compare the statistics: 1 per cent versus 84 per cent.”
 Not everyone is convinced, however. “What they [= IrelandsDNA] are suggesting is based on a very strong interpretation of a small piece of a genetic pattern,” says Prof Dan Bradley from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics. “There’s no real scientific evidence to warrant the use of terms like ‘genocide’. You can’t link modern genetic variation securely through archaeological strata without ancient DNA testing also. You can certainly have conjecture and there are indeed ways of looking at the time and depth of these things. But they have very wide margins for error. […]
“Sure there were a lot of population movements and mixing going on at this time. That’s why modern people don’t look like neolithic people, genetically speaking, but it would have had minimal impact on the gene pool” he says. “You’re not going to have hundreds of thousands of people suddenly coming from Spain but you would definitely have had smaller groups coming in boats. Plus there’s no archeological proof of any massive warfare or battles here at that time. » (J. Holden,Is distinctive DNA marker proof of ancient genocide?” The Irish Times, Thu, Jun 13, 2013).

Voici une vingtaine d'années, j'ai arpenté un « enclos circulaire »  (= rath) en compagnie du farmer propriétaire du terrain. Celui-ci n'a pas manqué de me raconter The Book of the Taking of Ireland. Je ne sais toujours pas si mon guide y croyait vraiment ...ou s'il se payait aimablement ma tête !




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

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