Mémoire n°28 - The Grand ‘Celtic’ Story ?

The splendours of Hallstatt, the princess of Vix, the Waldalgesheim style, Ambiorix and Vercingetorix, the oppidum of the Titelberg, the Battersea shield, Lindow Man, the stories of the Mabinogion, the hill of Tara, Cuchulainn, the Brehon Laws, the Book of Kells… Separated in time and place, can they all be placed within the framework of one “Celtic” metanarrative? Are they all part of the same grand, all-encompassing story? Metanarratives have not been very popular lately. In postmodern times, the tendency has been to replace them by small-scale, local narratives. In this context the rise of Celtosceptism in the nineties probably came as no surprise, but it resulted in a heated debate. We are now almost a decade later and the word “Celtic”, if used at all, is rarely seen without inverted comma's. But is this the end of the matter or is there still scope for discussion? We hope there is!