Pennod 93 - ‘Cymreigrwydd ei Gymeriadau’: Daniel Owen (rhan 1)

Wedi ystyried gwrthwynebiad rhai Cymry Ymneilluol i’r nofel mewn ambell bennod ddiweddar, cawn yn y bennod hon gyfle i ddechrau trafod Daniel Owen, nofelydd Cymraeg mwyaf llwyddiannus y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg. Nodwn fod ei waith wedi’i wreiddio yng nghymdeithas ddiwydiannol sir y Fflint a bod Methodistiaeth Galfinaidd yn ddylanwad mawr arno hefyd, er iddo ysgrifennu ffuglen ddychanol sy’n feirniadol iawn o’i enwad ei hun. Lluniodd fersiwn ffuglennol o’i dref enedigol, Yr Wyddrug, yn Y Dreflan, ac edrychwn ar nifer o ddyfyniadau sy’n enghreifftio’i ddychan afieithus a’i allu i gymeriadu’n gryno ac yn effeithiol. Wrth drafod ei nofel boblogaidd, Hunangofiant Rhys Lewis, Gweinidog Bethel – a dechrau trafod campwaith arall ganddo, Profedigaethau Enoc Huws – nodwn y modd y tynnodd yr awdur ei hun sylw at ‘Gymreigrwydd ei gymeriadau’ gan bwysleisio’r ffaith ei fod yn cynhyrchu nofelau Cymraeg a Chymreig, yn wahanol i’r cyfieithiadau a frithai’r wasg gyfnodol ar y pryd. * ‘The Welshness of his Characters’: Daniel Owen (part 1) Having considered some Welsh Nonconformists’ opposition to the novel in a few recent episodes, we have an opportunity in this episode to start discussing Daniel Owen, the most succesful Welsh-language novelist of the nineteenth century. We note that his work was grounded in Flintshire’s industrial society and that Calvinistic Methodism was another big influence upon him, although he wrote satirical fiction which is very crictical of his own denomination. He created a fictional version of his home town, Mold, in Y Dreflan, and we look at a few quotes which exemplify his vivacious satire and his ability to characterize succinctly and effectively. While discussing his popular novel, Hunangofiant Rhys Lewis, Gweinidog Bethel – and while beginning to discuss another of his masterpieces, Profedigaethau Enoc Huws – we note that the author himself drew attention to the ‘Welshness of his characters’, emphasizing the fact that he was producing novels which were Welsh in character as well as language, unlike the translations which appeared frequently in the periodical press at the time. Cyflwynwyd gan: Yr Athro Jerry Hunter a'r Athro Richard Wyn Jones Cynhyrchwyd gan: Richard Martin ar gyfer Mimosa Cymru Cerddoriaeth: 'Might Have Done' gan The Molenes Darllen Pellach/Further Reading: - Robert Rhys, Daniel Owen (2000).