The Dragon Has Two Tongues: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing

by Glyn Jones, Tony Brown (Editor)

First published in 1968, The Dragon has Two Tongues was the first book-length study of the English-language literature of Wales. Written by one of Wales’s major English-language writers of fiction and poetry, it includes chapters dealing with the work of Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies, all of whom Glyn Jones knew personally. This first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with the shrewdness of Glyn Jones’s critical comments, established The Dragon Has Two Tongues as an invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. At the same time, it contains Glyn Jones’s own autobiographical reflections on his life and literary career, his loss and rediscovery of the Welsh language, and the cultural shifts which resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century. Although a classic study, The Dragon Has Two Tongues has long been out-of-print. Tony Brown had the opportunity to discuss the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 and has had access to Glyn Jones’s own proposed revisions and to manuscript drafts. This first paperback edition therefore includes some updating of the text and a new bibliography.

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1968

About the author

Glyn Jones (1905-1995) was a Welsh novelist, poet and literary historian. Jones is an important figure in the "Welsh writing in English" literary movement.

Jones was a prolific poet, publishing many collections throughout his life. He also wrote three novels during his career: The Valley, The City, The Village (1956), The Learning Lark (1960), and The Island of Apples (1965).

He served as both Chairman and President of the Welsh Academy's English-language section. In his study, The Dragon Has Two Tongues (1968), he discusses ways in which the period between the World Wars affected his generation of Welsh authors.

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look into the development of and questions around identity of Welsh authors writing in English up until the late 1960s.

The essays include analysis of the works of a select few authors and poets, intertwined with Glyn Jones' personal accounts and experiences with these people. While I do think this latter aspect often adds a unique perspective and insight into these writings, occasionally I think Jones gets too caught up in biography and personal anecdotes. Sometimes this works well, particularly in his essay about Dylan Thomas, yet for others, namely Jack Jones and Huw Menai, I felt that Glyn had not adequately argued for their significance in the genre based on the content of their works. It is also worth noting that the mention of women writers is unacceptably absent, with Margiad Evans, Dorothy Edwards and Hilda Vaughn getting passing mentions, and the light dismissal of Allen Raine.

Overall, an important text in the history of welsh writing in english. It is informative, offers interesting analysis and is at times touching.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dragon Has Two Tongues was of minimal use for my essay, but fascinating in its own way. Glyn Jones' essays are as much reminiscence about himself, the world that made him, and the people he knew and the worlds that formed them. He has a lot of warm, humanising memories of Caradoc Evans, an inside view on Dylan Thomas, a deep admiration for all the men about whom he writes.

He is writing about a genre or movement in literature that at the time was relatively looked down upon, it seems: Anglo-Welsh literature. He has to define this, which I think he does very well, and what makes one an Anglo-Welsh writer when one is writing in English. He puts the views of both sides here, the Welsh-language writers with their questioning of what audience the Anglo-Welsh writers had, and the view of the Anglo-Welsh authors making their own way. I think what he says, that, 'To me, anyone can be a Welshman who chooses to be so and is prepared to take the consequences,' is a very sound idea -- given that were I a writer I'd be aligned with the Anglo-Welsh, since I speak no Welsh and grew up in England, but from the very beginning asserted my identity as a Welsh person.

The shortcomings of the volume are the hyper-masculinity of it, of course. He mentions Margiad Evans and Menna Gallie, for example, without ever making them come alive in the way he does the male authors of the tradition. Margiad Evans and Menna Gallie surely deserve as prominent a place in the tradition as the men.

It's, as a whole, very easy to read, rarely bogged down in technical detail. Even where you haven't read the work he's writing about, it remains clear and interesting, which I can't say for many essay writers.