Description :
This radio programme from Radio Pais is part of the European Tramontana Network (Réseau Tramontana / Tramontana Network), co-financed by the European Union. It explores the history of migration from the Pyrenean region, focusing on the Ariège and Gascony areas, where economic hardship, political upheaval, and social change pushed many inhabitants to leave for the Americas in the 19th century.
The guest, writer and researcher Denise Dejean, discusses her novel A Forger of Continents, inspired by real historical research and a personal collaboration with descendants of emigrants. The central story follows a family from Banat (Tarascon-sur-Ariège) whose ancestor, a skilled ironworker in the Catalan forge tradition, emigrated to Mexico in the 19th century, carrying technical know-how and family memory across generations.
The conversation connects individual family histories with broader migration patterns, including contracts of specialized workers, Atlantic crossings via Bordeaux, and settlement in Mexico. It also reflects on emotional reconnections between descendants in France, Mexico, and the United States, showing how memory, identity, and cultural transmission survive across centuries.