Les contes entre Ventoux et Baronnies - Jean-Louis Ramel

Les contes entre Ventoux et Baronnies - Li conte entre Ventour e Barounio - Jean-Louis Ramel

(The tales between Ventoux and Baronnies)

Le rire et la légende: continuité ou transformations ? (Laughter and legend: continuity or transformations?)

The region between Ventoux and Baronnies is a nursery of storytellers. Their stories and their language are their life and their roots. I have often heard people say: "Here is a tale from my grandfather, who always heard it in his childhood...". However, these stories are constantly changing: they know how to take advantage of current events, and address the concerns of the moment. They remain "speaking", they tell us the permanent challenges of the man through time as the experience that he drew from it. New stories appear and change, according to the life of the country.
I have collected these tales over time, in the towns and villages between the Ventoux, Vaison-la-Romaine and Buis-les-Barronies.
I have transcribed these stories faithfully, often from recordings, without transforming them or following any desire for "good morals" or "academic speech". The tales told in Provençal are followed by a French translation that will help to know this oral heritage, heir as well to popular comedy as to religious beliefs and ancient pagan wonder.
To become familiar with these stories is to penetrate the mystery of this storytelling word that comes to us from the depths of time...

First part of Jean-Louis Ramel's doctorate "Permanence and mutations of the oral tradition" defended in December 1994. You will find there the tales of oral tradition in Provence, collected by the author, enriched with his comments. They are accompanied by a critical and comparative study on their evolution, the other known versions...

Complete version.

Association Culture and language of oc.

The author:
Jean-Louis Ramel (1955-2021) worked for the Provençal memory by making numerous collections in the region of Vaison.