Description :
This episode of Orality and Humanity, broadcast by Radio Pais, is part of the European Tramontana Network (Réseau Tramontana) project, co-funded by the European Union. The programme highlights Europe’s oral heritage by giving voice to people who preserve and transmit local languages, traditions, and cultural memory. In this edition, the guest is the musician and storyteller Alain Larivette, who reflects on the relationship between music, identity, language, and the transmission of knowledge across generations.
Alain Larivette explains how years of travelling and performing led him to question the purpose of his music. He rediscovered his Béarnais language, which he had abandoned as a teenager because regional languages were often associated with rural life and discouraged at school. Returning to his mother tongue became a way of reconnecting with his family roots, his community, and the stories of previous generations. For him, language is more than a means of communication: it carries culture, memories, traditional knowledge, and a sense of belonging that should not disappear.
The conversation also explores the importance of encounters with other cultures, particularly Larivette’s experience with musicians in Mali, where he realised that music is not simply a succession of notes but a way of telling stories. He stresses that his songs invite listeners to reconnect with their own memories, languages, and identities. Finally, he reflects on humanity’s relationship with nature, comparing the Earth to a parent who patiently supports us despite our lack of care, and calls for greater respect for both the environment and the cultural roots that sustain our societies.