Cornish: identity issues

Cornwall is neither independent as Ireland is nor has some autonomy as Scotland, Wales and Man, which is not good news to its language. On the other hand, Cornish is protected by the same European charter as the Scotish Gaelic; still has at least two thousand native speakers (2001census), while Man has none and is far away of the biggest English cultural center – London.

How English are the Cornish? The historian Eric Hobsbawn wrote in Nations and Nationalism since 1780 (Cambridge University Press, 1980) that “the Cornish are fortunate to be able to paint their regional discontents in the attractive colours of Celtic tradition, which makes them so much more viable”. Not every person at Cornwall think of himself/herself as English. (About that, cf. County, nation, ethnic group? The shaping of the Cornish identity, by Bernard Deacon).

Four authors wanted to prove this sense of otherness to be causeless by a biological way in the article How Celtic are the Cornish? A study of biological affinities (Harvey et al., 1986, alternative link). According to their study, Cornwall people are genetically closer from Anglo-Saxons rather than Celts, and many of their Celtic biological characteristics came from Irish ascendance, not from a Brythonic group. But they dealt with the issue through a biological perspective not a cultural one.

Culturally, Cornwall keeps traces very distinctive traces from the rest of England in fields like gastronomy and fishing techniques. (Information from the Cornwall Council website).

EXTRA MATERIAL

- News about Unesco classifying Cornish as a language being revitalized

- A site where people promised they would not answer the 2011 Census if "Cornish" was not one of the ethnicity options

- Cornish "National" Anthem