Description :
This episode of Radio País is part of the European project Tramontana Network (Réseau Tramontana in French), co-funded by the European Union, which seeks to promote the cultural, linguistic and human diversity of European territories through the sharing of local experiences and voices. In this context, the programme presents the work of Yannick Jaulin, an artist and storyteller who combines theatre, music, poetry and reflection to explore the intimate relationship between people and their languages. The episode focuses on his performance “My mother tongue is going to die and I have a hard time talking to you about love”, accompanied by musician Alain Larivière.
Through this artistic creation, Yannick Jaulin reflects on the history and treatment of regional languages in French society, particularly his native Poitevin-Saintongeais. He questions the mechanisms that have led many speakers to feel shame towards their own languages, often considered inferior or merely “patois”. He recalls the historical richness of these languages and their links with Occitan culture, highlighting figures such as the troubadour Guillaume VII of Aquitaine, Aliénor d’Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart, who lived in a multilingual environment where Occitan held an important place.
Jaulin defends linguistic diversity as a source of creativity and humanity rather than a threat to unity. He rejects the idea of a “pure” or fixed language, arguing that the true beauty of languages lies in their ability to evolve, mix and change from one village to another. For him, regional languages are living expressions of collective memory and imagination, and their preservation depends on love, transmission and the recognition of the plurality of ways of speaking and understanding the world.