Introduction

(to be completed with other contributions)

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO BASQUE LITERATURE

Mari Jose Olaziregi ©

(in Waking the Hedgehog. The Literary Universe of Bernardo Atxaga, Center for Basque Studies - University of Nevada, Reno, 2005). Translated from Basque by Amaia Gabantxo.

As the poem that serves as an epigraph to this book (Bernardo Atxaga's "I Write in a Strange Language") indicates, we can think of Basque literature as a hedgehog that has been asleep for too long, but that, fortunately, has managed to awake in the 20th century. Thus the last hundred years of our literary history are the most interesting and worthy of review, and for this reason the introduction will deal mainly with them. There will be few references to our ancient literary past because since the first book written in the Basque language -Bernard Etxepare's collection of poems Linguae Vasconum Primitiae- was published in 1545, until 1879 only 101 books were published and, of them, only four can be said to be literary works. It is clear, therefore, that we are dealing with a late-blossoming literature, a literature conditioned by socio-historical circumstances that have hindered its development and are tightly bound to the ups and downs suffered by the language that sustains it: Basque, or Euskara.

By way of introduction to the history of Basque literature, it may be useful to make a few general points about the language itself. Basque is a very ancient language of pre-indo-European origin. And although its origins are unknown to us, most anthropologists, historians and linguists believe that euskara was already spoken during the Neolithic period. When we refer to speakers of Basque, we should also keep in mind that we are referring to a very small language community. Nowadays there are about 700,000 Basque speakers, or euskalduns, who live on both sides of the Pyrenees, in France and in Spain. The political border that divides the Basque Country today (Euskal Herria) separates two different legislative regions. After the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was approved the Basque language was accepted as an official language, together with Castilian, in the provinces in the Spanish region. But the same is not the case in the French Basque Country, where Basque has not been given the status of an official language. The consequences of this imbalance are easy to predict: aspects such as the establishment of bilingual models of teaching, or the existence of grants for publications in the Basque language have made the literary system in the Spanish Basque Country much stronger and dynamic than the one in the French side.

But it wasn't always so. The first Basque-language books were published in the French Basque Country. After Etxepare's 1545 text others followed which proved essential to the development of literature in Basque. I am referring to the 1571 translation of the New Testament and several Calvinist treatises by de Leizarraga, and the publication in 1643 of Pedro de Axular's Gero, thought to be the best example of mystical prose in the language. The publication of translations and edifying texts continued to take place, and from the 18th century onwards the majority of authors and works were published in the Spanish region. In 1765, the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country (La Real Sociedad Vascongada de Amigos del País) and the Royal Seminary of Bergara were funded. Under the influence of ideas from the illustrated period (La Ilustración), authors such as Francisco Javier María Munibe, Count of Peñaflorida, promoted and enlivened the cultural atmosphere of the era. I would like to highlight the activities related to promoting the language which took place in the period 1794-1808. At that time the eminent linguist G. de Humboldt visited the Basque Country and became a defender and disseminator of Basque in European circles. Others would follow on his footsteps and, thanks to the influence of Romanticism, this ancient language sparked the interest of artists and people with a thirst for knowledge, such as William Wordsworth or Merimée, who made Carmen, a Basque woman, the main character of his famous novel.

However, the first signs of the emergence of a new spirit appeared in the last decade of the 19th century - a spirit that would shake the roots and shape the future of the literature. The dominance of works of religious edification and education was eroded, and the spectrum of literary genres widened: the work of poets such as Bilintx and Etxahun benefited from the emergence of new authors such as Arrese Beitia and the new narrative genres, particularly the novel, which at this point burst onto the Basque literary scene. The loss of the fueros after the second Carlista war (1873-1876) signalled the start of what critics have called the Basque literary "Renaissance". During this period -and through the figure of Sabino Arana- the roots of Basque nationalism were firmly settled, and this influenced all the Basque literature of the first third of the 20th century. The pre-eminence of nationalist ideology meant that literary production in the first few decades of the 20th century was characterized by extra-literary aims, and was alien to the European Modernist movement, which attempted to subvert the language and forms of the modern age. I am referring to the group of writers who, in 1930, chorused Ezra Pound's proclamation: Make it new! The regenerating airs of this movement did not reach the Basque shores until rather late in the 20th century, around the 1960s. The Basque novel took its first uneasy steps at the end of the 19th century, with Agirre, who tried to portray an idealized, essentialist world far removed from the industrial cities that were beginning to emerge in the Basque Country. This first type of Basque novel was in fact a thesis novel, built around the three main themes of faith, patriotism and Basqueness, and its influence would last until the 1950s.

As for the other genres, it was undoubtedly poetry that bore the best fruits during the first half of the 20th century. Its literary tradition was much more established than that of the narrative genres; Lizardi, Lauaxeta and Orixe's post-symbolist poetry, which explored and stretched the expressive possibilities of the Basque language, is among the best of its kind.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) had devastating effects on Basque literary production. The great number of dead and exiled authors, as well as the tremendous repression exerted by the winning side, contributed to this factor. This was an era in which Basque names were prohibited, as well as inscriptions in Basque on tombstones; an era in which streets, government buildings, the cultural world, and more, were the channels through which Francoism imposed its censorship. It has been said that the post-war generation was one of the most important in Basque literature, because it was given something it needed more than anything else: continuity. The most popular genre at that time was poetry, among other reasons because it was easier to publish a few loose poems than complete works, and because during the years 1940-1950 normal publishing activity was practically impossible. Jon Mirande (1925-1972) stands out among the poets of the time: he was the first to counter the religious spirit that had permeated Basque poetry until the 1950s. Mirande was a heterodox and nihilist writer, a follower of Poe and Baudelaire and an avid reader of Nietzsche. He also wrote a novel, Haur besoetakoa ("The Goddaughter", 1970), a sort of Basque version of Nabokov's Lolita. Both Gabriel Aresti (1933-1975) and Jon Mirande belonged to what became known as the '56 Generation, a generation that tried to modernise Basque literature by bringing into it the modern propositions of the literatures of Europe, but which also, and above all, tried to liberate Basque literature from its political, religious and folkloric ties and make the aesthetic function paramount to any literary exercise. The events that took place in the Basque Country a few years later, in the 60s (the economic and industrial developments, the establishment of Basque schools or ikastolas, the unification of euskara, political activity against the Francoist regime, campaigns for schooling in Basque, and so on), created a seedbed for new literary propositions. It has been said that the reigning cultural orthodoxy of the time was confronted by the political and cultural heterodoxy promoted by authors such as the aforementioned poet Gabriel Aresti, the famous philologist Koldo Mitxelena (1915-1987) and the sculptor Jorge Oteiza (1908-2003). After the publication of Maldan Behera ("Downhill", 1960), which showed the influence of Eliot, Aresti turned to social poetry with his famous collection Harri eta Herri ("Stone and Country", 1964).

As for the narrative genre, I would suggest that Txillardegi's (1929- ) existential novel Leturiaren egunkari ezkutua ("Leturia's Hidden Diary", 1957) marked the beginning of the representation of modernity in Basque literature. A few years later, in 1969, the writer Ramon Saizarbitoria (1944) turned the literary tables with the publication of Egunero hasten delako ("Because It Starts Every Day"). This book brought about a rejection of existentialist poetics and an embrace of the type of experimental novel exemplified by the French nouveau roman. Thus began a period of experimentation with the genre of the novel. This exploration of form reached a peak in 1976 with the publication of Ene Jesus ("Oh Jesus"), also by Saizarbitoria. During the 1970s the country's most international author, Bernardo Atxaga, made his mark in the literary landscape. Although at the beginning of his career he published post-avant-garde and experimental works, he soon moved towards more fantastic and realistic terrains. Towards the end of the 70s, the Basque novel recovered its love of storytelling, as did the literatures of neighbouring countries. The postmodern premise "everything has been told, we just need to remember it" has influenced many of the texts of the last few decades.

Although the arrival of democracy in Spain in 1975 did not bring about a dramatic change in the Basque literary paradigms of the era, it did provide the necessary objective conditions for the institutionalisation of Basque literature as an autonomous activity (see the description of the Basque Literary System in the section entitled "20th-century Basque literature"). In what regards poetry, I would like to highlight that the development from Aresti's social poetry took place during the 70s, when the more existential poetry of authors such as Xabier Lete, Arantza Urretabizkaia or Mikel Lasa took over. Other authors took a post-symbolist stand - their aim was to evolve towards a more concise and synthetic style (e.g. Juan Mari Lekuona) or to move towards a deeper degree of introspection (e.g. Bittoriano Gandiaga). Koldo Izagirre also started writing in the 1970s. His Itsaso ahantzia ("The Forgotten Sea", 1976) dabbled with surrealist aesthetics, but his poetry became more politicized in 1989, with the publication of Balizko erroten erresuma ("The Realm of Fictitious Mills"). In the same way, Joseba Sarrionandia undertook a journey that revisited Kavafis, Holan and Pessoa in a collection of poetry that made many references to high literature: Izuen gordelekuen barrena ("In the Hiding Places of Fear", 1981), but he too moved closer to political poetry in Marinel zaharrak ("The Ancient Mariners", 1987) and Huny illa nyha majah yahoo (1995).

But the book that truly shook the poetic world of that time was Bernardo Atxaga's Etiopia (1978): it set the standard of modern Basque poetry. The appearance of this collection, together with some of those mentioned above, took place during a period, 1976-1983, in which Basque poetry experienced its most avant-garde moment thanks to the proliferation of literary magazines that acted as springboards for many of these authors. The 1980s started with a variety of poetic tendencies, among which I would like to highlight what was called "the poetry of experience". Poets of the stature of Felipe Juaristi, Amaia Iturbide or Jaime Kerexeta combined their alliance to symbolism and aestheticism with their private experiences to create poetry. Other authors, like Tere Irastorza, published poetry of a more intimist nature. Although the publication of poetic works has declined since the 1990s, new interesting voices have joined the literary world in the last few years. Ricardo Diaz de Heredia (Kartografia ("Cartography", 1998)), Miren Agur Meabe (Azalaren Kodea ("The Code of the Skin", 2000)) and Kirmen Uribe (Bitartean heldu eskutik ("In the Meantime Hold My Hand", 2001)) are but a few examples. In addition, the group of writers associated with the magazine Susa and writing more breakaway, underground poetry -Izagirre, Aranbarri, Nabarro, Montoia, Otamendi and Borda- has grown, and now includes the new voices of Olasagarre (Bizi Puskak ("Pieces of Life", 1995)), Cano (Norbait dabil sute eskaileran ("There's Someone at the Fire Escape", 2001) and Jon Benito.

As for the narrative genre, which has gained popularity in the last few decades, I would like to point out that the proliferation of literary magazines during the 1980s also contributed to the development of the modern Basque short story. Collections such as Joseba Sarrionandia's Narrazioak (1983), or Bernardo Atxaga's excellent Obabakoak (1988), transported Basque readers to imaginary worlds that had never before been visited in the Basque language. The modern short story further progressed with the publication of Inazio Mujika Iraola's Azukrea belazeetan ("On the Sugar Fields", 1987, a collection influenced by the work of Juan Rulfo), and with the gritty realism of Xabier Montoia's work. In any case, although in the last decade authors such as Pello Lizarralde, Iban Zaldua, Karlos Linazasoro or Arantxa Iturbe have published excellent short story collections, Basque literary activity, like that in Spain at the end of the 20th century and beyond, revolves around the novel. Nowadays, the novel is the genre with the most literary prestige and impact, and the one which profits publishing houses most. If one had to sum up the most relevant authors and tendencies at present, one could start by pointing out authors who adhere to a type of lyrical novel which first became popular in the 1970s. Among these authors I would highlight Arantza Urretabizkaia's Zergaitik, Panpox ("Why, Panpox?", 1979), an intimist text closely related to the "feminism of difference" of the 1970s; Lourdes Oñederra's Eta emakumeari sugeak esan zion ("And the Serpent Told the Woman", 2000); Laura Mintegi's Sisifo maite minez ("Sisyphus in Love", 2001); Juan Luis Zabala's Agur, Euzkadi ("Bye, Euzkadi", 2001), or Unai Elorriaga's 2002 Spanish Narrative Prize winner SP-rako Tranbia ("A Streetcar to SP", 2002). Other contemporary novels have been heavily influenced by the noir novel, especially in its US form. Some examples are: Jose Mari Iturralde's Izua Hemen ("Fear Here", 1991); Aingeru Epaltza's Chandleresque Rock'n'Roll (2000); Bernardo Atxaga's psychological thriller Gizona bere bakardadean ("The Lone Man", 1994); Jon Alonso's mystery novel Katebegi galdua ("The Missing Link", 1996), or Harkaitz Cano's intriguing Beluna Jazz (1996) and Pasaia Blues (1999).

I would like to add the observation that the contemporary Basque novel looks mostly inward and to the past. This is also the case with Ramon Saizarbitoria. In his Hamaika Pauso ("Innumerable Steps", 1998) and Bihotz bi ("Two Hearts", 1999), he uses memory as a springboard for a kind of testimonial novel. In his latest book, Gorde nazazu lurpean ("Leave Me under the Earth", 2000), Saizarbitoria "unearths" his literary obsessions and the cruelty of the Spanish Civil War, as well as the difficulty of communication between men and women in the Basque Country. In another type of novel, such as the realist novel, the starting point is outside - and this is used to present the internal friction that problems such as terrorism provoke among Basques. This is the case in Anjel Lertxundi's latest novel, Zorion Perfektua ("Perfect Happiness", 2003), in which we learn of the emotional shock a sixteen-year-old girl experiences after witnessing an assassination. Throughout his long-standing literary career Lertxundi has also delved into the genres of fantasy and magic realism. Jose Mari Irigoien's Babilonia (1989) is another magic-realist novel.