Dr Rhisiart Hincks

Throughout his academic career, Dr Hincks has been interested in literature and language, as well as the correlation between the two subjects. His publications in both these fields include a biography of the poet and editor, E. Prosser Rhys (1980) on the one hand, and on the other a study on scholarship and Breton until the early nineteenth century: I Gadw Mamiaith mor Hen (1995). He also takes delight in methods of language teaching and has published several Welsh and Breton dictionaries and textbooks. Another area which interests him is the practice and skills of translation. He has published a number of literary translations and is a consultant examiner for  the Association of Welsh Translators. He has also researched into glossarial and grammatical purism and its influence on minority languages – aspects of which have been explored in Geiriau Llydaweg a Fabwysiadwyd gan y Geiriadurwyr Thomas Jones, Iolo Morganwg, William Owen Pughe ac eraill (1993), in Yr Iaith Lenyddol fel Bwch Dihangol yng Nghymru ac yn Llydaw/The Literary Language as a Scapegoat in Wales and in Brittany (2000), and in ‘Heb fenthyca cymaint a sill ar neb o ieithoedd y byd,’ Cymysgiaith a Phuryddiaeth...  (2007).  

From a literary perspective, Dr Hincks has offered an analysis of images of men of the church in the ballad tradition in Brittany, in Bezañ beleg a zo kargus / koulz ’vel bezañ relijiuz (2007), and a study on the importance of towns and cities in Breton poetry, in Pob un yn ei Baradwys / yn ei Uffern ei hun (2007).

Currently he is working on the history of the Welsh language and how linguistic rights were obtained, and he has also started to research the ideas and learning of the Breton author and lexicographer Frañsez Vallee. Another subject which he intends focusing on is the teaching methods of Welsh and Breton and how they have changed – for better or for worse – over the past decades.

Dr Hincks contributes regularly to the magazine Al Lanv and is the editor of Breizh / Llydaw, the Wales-Brittany Association’s publication.