For some time now I’ve been working my way through John Davies’ massive A History of Wales. I decided the year before last, when we went to the “Cardiff Singer of the World” competition, that I knew far too little about the country, and determined to put that right. Davies’ massive volume needs to be consumed in manageable bites, so it is taking me a long time. It’s fascinating stuff, and I’m glad that I made the decision. One thing has puzzled me deeply, however, and that is his almost complete silence about the arts in Wales.
Occasionally the subject earns a brief side-long glance, such as the link between the development of language policy and literature. David Jones does make the odd passing reference, but otherwise the entire subject seems to have earned about five pages in total. I find it amazing, at one level, that it should be possible to produce a major historical survey of this kinds without adequate attention to the arts. On reflection, however, I look back over my former career as a specialist in the study of the former Yugoslavia and realise that this kind of blindness is by no means uncommon among historians. Surely it has been the case throughout Europe that the development of national consciousness has found an important expression through the arts.
I have to admit my own relative ignorance in this area, and it does seem to be the case that I ought to do a little more delving. I wonder what I will discover.