Jèrriais literature
An astonishing boom in competing newspapers and journals throughout the 19th century provided a platform for poets and writers to publish regularly in the feuilletons - typically, satirical comment on the week's news, elections, politicians and notables.
The international interest in Robert Burns's Scots poetry provided the background to a conscious effort by Channel Island writers to promote vernacular literature.
Élection de St. Martin, a playlet in Jèrriais and French published in the newspaper Le Constitutionnel on 24 November 1838, was probably never staged, but rather read in company.
Henri Luce Manuel's play in rhyming couplets Queur de Femme (in modern spelling: Tchoeu d'Femme - "heart of a woman") of 1861 was published in pamphlet form.
Sir Robert Pipon Marett's prestige and influence also helped to reinforce the movement towards standardisation of the writing system based on French orthography, a trend which was also helped by the nascent Norman literary revival in the neighbouring Cotentin area of mainland Normandy where writers, inspired by the example of the Norman writers of Jersey and Guernsey, began their own production of literary works.
François-Victor Hugo reproduced an extract from Laelius's "La Fille Malade" in his "La Normandie inconnue", which spread awareness of Jèrriais literature far beyond Jersey but which overstated Laelius's literary influence in Jersey since Sir Robert Pipon Marett's literary production dwindled as he took on high office.
Laelius is the most quoted poet from this period and the most popular in mainland Normandy, most probably because of his familiarity with and fidelity to French classical models, as well as the fact that his writing is generally less satirical than his contemporaries and therefore requires less knowledge of Jersey institutions, events and personalities.
He edited an annual literary anthology called "La Nouvelle Année", dedicated to the Norman literature of Jersey and Guernsey, between 1868 and 1875.
The Lieutenant-Governor tried to force Asplet to resign as Centenier because of his links with the proscrits, but L'Anmin Flippe refused and made public the correspondence.
Victor Hugo described him as "un vrai Poëte" (a true poet), although his highly coloured style full of classical allusions and antiquarianism mean that his popularity is restricted nowadays.
He was a devoted monarchist, writing many poems on royal subjects, and in 1884 received permission from Buckingham Palace to translate Queen Victoria's More leaves from the Highlands into Jèrriais.
He often undertook translations from English, notably versions of poems by Robert Service, and of Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures genre pieces by Douglas Jerrold, originally published in Punch in the 1840s which may have later influenced Edward Le Brocq's Ph'lippe et Merrienne stories.
His brother, Philip W. Luce (1882–1966), also a journalist and poet (pen name Ph'lippe d'la Golarde), emigrated to Canada, but sent occasional writings back to Jersey.
Besides Edmund Blampied's work in the visual arts, he also amused himself and his friends by writing poetry in Jèrriais, signing himself as Un Tout-à-travèrs.
Some literature circulated clandestinely, such as Edmund Blampied's words for an insulting anti-Hitler song entitled La chanson Hitleur written in 1944.
The foundation of L'Assembliée d'Jèrriais, a body to preserve and promote the language, in 1952 led to the publication of a quarterly journal, Lé Bulletîn d'Quart d'An, providing a literary outlet for Jèrriais which became even more important after the closure of Les Chroniques de Jersey in 1959.
Following the death of George d'la Forge, Sir Arthur de la Mare (1914–1994), a retired ambassador, took over the task of contributing regular columns to the newspaper.
Written in the Trinity dialect, as distinct from the St. Ouen dialect used by George d'la Forge and Frank Le Maistre which is laid out in the standard grammar of Jèrriais and the standard dictionaries, Sir Arthur's articles included reminiscences of his life as a diplomat, especially in Japan, Thailand and Singapore, as well as comments on events and politics in Jersey.
