On the Isle of Ré, the fierce fight of enthusiasts to preserve the local dialect

Michel Fruchard and Jean-Claude Bonnin have spent two decades collecting stories, songs, and testimonies in the Rétais dialect, particularly during vigils. The last one will take place in October.

T he narrow streets of the villages of the Île de Ré are no longer home to the harsh music of the dialect. But for twenty years, a handful of enthusiasts have been striving to preserve its legacy. United within Corepor, the Committee for the Collection of the Oral Heritage of Ré, they have multiplied collections, vigils, and publications to save what could be saved. This work is collective, carried out by around twenty volunteers, but two figures stand out: Michel Fruchard, founder and facilitator, and Jean-Claude Bonnin, collector and scenographer.

“Corepor was born in the early 2000s,” recalls Michel Fruchard. “The community of communes was looking to launch a collection. Finally, it fell to me.” Quickly, groups formed in each village to visit the elders, record them, and transcribe their memories. “We would arrive with a microphone, and people would start by saying they had nothing to tell. But all it took was one detail for the stories to flow.”

To give visibility to this work, the team imagined the storytellers' evening. The first, organized in 2005 in Saint-Martin, already attracted a large audience. "It took off immediately," says Michel Fruchard. "Afterwards, every year, we filled the room. It had become a much-anticipated event." These evenings combined poems, songs, stories, and anecdotes in patois, carried by an increasingly accomplished staging.

“We have had evenings with 300 people, which, for a show in patois, is incredible.”

Because the evenings weren't just readings. "I wanted to give it more rhythm," explains Jean-Claude Bonnin. "So I organized the texts and songs around a theme, alternating the forms. Little by little, it took on the feel of a real show." Musicians, storytellers, and singers took turns on stage. During the intermission, they shared a drink before resuming with new stories. "The audience got into it. We had evenings with 300 people, which, for a show in patois, is incredible."

Alongside the vigils, the collection continued. Jean-Claude Bonnin conducted around forty interviews in Rivedoux. "We sometimes recorded two or three hours. People talked about their lives, sang forgotten songs. It was moving; we felt they were passing on something they thought was lost." These testimonies, like all the recordings, are now on display at the Ernest-Cognacq Museum. Michel Fruchard estimates the material collected at nearly 300 hours, making it accessible to families, researchers, and local authorities.

From this work was born the Cricri, Comité des chansons rétaises, which published a book-disc that has become a reference: "Qu'est-ce que tu me chantes?" It contains around fifty songs in patois, accompanied by scores, translations and commentaries.

Everyone agrees: the Rétais dialect is no longer spoken. "It's a dead language," confirms Jean-Claude Bonnin. "Our goal wasn't to revive it like Basque or Breton, but to preserve it." Their regret, shared by the entire group, remains that they haven't found a successor. "We hoped the evenings would inspire young people, but no one came." Every year, an appeal was put out. In vain. The core group remained composed of passionate retirees.

After twenty years of effort, the time has come to close a cycle. On October 24, in Saint-Martin, the final vigil will take place, under the sign of farewell: "The storytellers send their regards." "It's a wonderful adventure, but it drains all our energy," acknowledges Michel Fruchard. "We now want to refocus on the written word, on literature in patois." There is no shortage of projects: collections, editions, and archive repositories to extend the transmission of knowledge in other ways.

Between unearthed notebooks, shared vigils, and recorded voices, Corepor has captured a memory that, without them, would have evaporated. Jean-Claude Bonnin summarizes: "We have collected hundreds of hours of interviews, published a book-disc, and brought twenty years of vigils to life. It's a preserved heritage." Michel Fruchard concludes, with a hint of melancholy: "The patois won't come back, but at least we'll have kept a trace of it."