Transforming Cornish and Devon Wrestling (Britain) and Gouren (Brittany – France) Through Sportification

Abstract

This article looks at an entity of two regions with significant cultural similarities: they are neighbouring peninsulas, had a common Celtic language and have had many exchanges over the centuries. Cornish and Devon wrestling was one of the traditional sporting games descended from medieval martial activities. Gouren, or Breton wrestling, was its equivalent in Brittany. However, from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the 1880s, Cornish wrestling has known a fantastic development, accompanying the economic development and the standardisation of the games into sports and spectacles in Great Britain. The game was very popular in Cornwall and Devon, the old West Country. At the same time, Gouren vegetated in the mediocrity of the dark Breton nineteenth century. Nowadays, since the mid-twentieth century, Cornish wrestling has almost disappeared, while Gouren has a healthy federation with dozens of clubs and thousands of players in the last decade, with a practice supported by political institutions in Brittany. This paper analyses why this situation reversed, using various tools: an historical survey of the two situations and then analyse from a praxeological point of view in order to define the elements that probably led to this situation.