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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue 34, 1987
New Directions in Basque Literature
by Laura Mintegi
Something is Changing
The situation is changing, and rapidly at that,
both within Basque literature and
its wider social context. In
a previous issue of this publication William Douglass noted the
profound changes that have transpired in certain villages of the Basque
Country since his first stay in them. He
said that there have been more changes in the last two decades than in
the previous two centuries.
This rate of change is even more pronounced in the
case of Basque literature. For
example, in 1984 alone, more literary works were published in Basque
than during the previous four centuries altogether.
Yes, things have changed, not only quantitatively,
since the main difference is qualitative.
In the Basque Country today there is more writing than ever
before being effected with a literary conscience.
At the same time, Basque literature is passing through phases
with great rapidity. Few of the
world’s literatures count among their works “classics” that were
written by authors who are barely forty years of age today.
They are not classics because they are a prime example of a
genre that evolved over several years, but rather because after their
publication new literary styles appeared, new tendencies, new
techniques that converted the former works into “classics” even
before they had time to create their own schools.
There are several reasons, mainly social and
political ones, that help us to understand these vertiginous changes in
Basque literature. On one hand
there was a strong cultural renaissance
that began in the 1960s, that was linked to the political reemergence
of a national conscience. This
national conscience ascribes great importance to the language and the
culture, as elements in the political struggle.
It should not be forgotten that within the ranks of ETA there
existed groups called “culturalists” who operated differently than
the militants by printing publications, organizing Basque musical
festivals, supporting Basque language schools (ikastolak), etc.
On the other hand, since the late 1970s the
political climate permits incorporation of Basque language instruction
into the school curriculum, which has created a demand for Basque texts
that scarcely existed prior to that time.
In addition to this “scholasticizing” of the
Basque Country, we find authors and readers who are familiar with the
literatures of other cultures, literatures of considerable cultural
value; and who are anxious to bring their own literary production up to
the standards reflected in literatures in other languages.
In this fashion young Basque nationalists bring to Basque literature
profound cultural concerns, anxious to create something new thanks to
the hope generated by the recent political beginning.
For its part the public demands an autochthonous
literature and militantly supports all kinds of cultural expression in
the Basque language. In this
fashion, the scarce literary production in Basque is snapped up
immediately. Many Basque books
are sold, in fact maybe too many given the limited number of persons
literate in the language. These
works acquire an extra-literary function; they are utilized in the
teaching and learning of the language and as an identity symbol for a
people which desires to express itself publicly at all levels.
At the same time, as part of the profound changes
in Basque society, the most active cultural focus has shifted from the
rural to the urban sector. For
the first time in the Basque Country, there is beginning to be a Basque
urban culture. This point is
critical, since it means that it has become necessary to adapt a
language rich in rural words and expressions to the demands of urban
life.
There are those who say, as did Unamuno earlier,
that the Basque language is adequate to talk to animals, or about them,
but that it is useless for the creation of high quality culture or
literature. The president of
Spain, Adolfo Suarez, himself declared publicly that he thought it well
to assist the Basque language as one might care for a valuable relic,
but that no one could believe it possible to teach nuclear physics with
it. There was an immediate
response from the Basque public, particularly since at that time
nuclear physics were being taught in Basque at the Basque University.
Along with the incorporation of the language into
university instruction, there is a movement to produce more demanding
works in Basque employing both American and European literary
techniques. On the one hand, it
is because the authors of these works are intrigued by European
literary trends and feel the need to express themselves along the same
lines, but in their own language. On
the other hand, it is because the reading public is becoming
increasingly demanding. Militantism
is declining little by little, and it is no longer sufficient that a
novel be written in Basque in order to be sold and read, rather it must
now be good and readable as well and contribute or say something.
These new requirements by the public have prompted many of those
who were writing books for political reasons to opt for different means
of expression more attuned to their talents, abandoning the field of
literature to those authors with a true literary vocation.
This process has improved the quality of Basque literature.
Tendencies within the Young Literature
When we speak of the young literature we do not
necessarily mean works produced by young writers, although this is
largely the case. The authors
who began to write after Franco’s death felt a great emptiness and,
in a way, they were literary orphans. They
lacked a tradition, works upon which to build, and key predecessors to
serve as a bridge that would allow the aspiring generation to create a
new epoch by departing from something.
Few were the authors who had written and published literature in
the difficult years of the dictatorship.
Besides, every youth movement searches for tradition, not
necessarily to effect continuity but rather to produce a break and
create new forms of expression that are diametrically opposed to it
stylistically and esthetically.
In the case of the new generations of Basque
writers, then, there was a lack of points of reference.
For this reason, several processes became operative among them
simultaneously, which in turn generated the new tendencies of the young
Basque literature. On the one
hand there is the obvious tendency to adopt models from American and
European literatures. Contemporary
Basque writers are avid readers. They
devour all of the most significant Western European, North and South
American writers, and share the same concerns.
The boom in Latin American short stories is reflected in Basque
literature, just as earlier one could discern the influence of French
existentialists and a reworking of Faulkner, Joyce, Woolf and Proust.
On the other hand, among Basque writers, there is
a tendency to experiment. Everything
remains to be done, everything can be done, and certainly few or no
authors have done it before. So
the sky is the limit! This
experimentalism, a is the case in the literatures of
the rest of the world, is rarely successful, but it reflects the
needs for new forms of expression felt by Basque writers.
These are writers who therefore use up stages rapidly.
Before a certain literary style has a chance to mature, another
begins, or even several others simultaneously.
Today, alongside those authors who remain in the scant
mainstream of traditional Basque literature, writing works about rural
life and customs are those who have opted for the black novel
American-style, the fantastic worlds of South America, the psychologism
and flow of consciousness of many European authors or works inspired by
French objectivism.
All of this at the same time!
Nevertheless, only infrequently do these writer
situate their works in a Basque social context, and even more rarely do
they confront the problems faced by Basque society.
It gives the impression that there is fear of speaking out, or
that themes too close to one’s own existence, the most polemical
ones, are not deemed valid raw material out of which to create
literature. Perhaps it is
a fear of being misunderstood by a part of Basque society.
The fact of the matter is that Basque literature
remains on a narrow path in search of its national identity (how could
it be otherwise at this juncture?) at the same time that the Basque
authors are searching for their own identity as writers.
For it must be remembered that the mean age of the present
Basque writers is barely more than thirty years – an age which, for a
writer, is very young.
It is for this reason that the pyramid of Basque
writers is enormously broad at its base and that literary journals,
large and small, have flourished and continue to flourish during recent
years, yet die and disappear with the same profusion.
For it is another of the tendencies of contemporary Basque
literature to create an endless series of literary journals that serve
two functions: as the medium of expression of a group of writers who
think they are doing something different and as an apprentice shop for
aspiring young authors.
The literary journals reflect what is “cooking” at the moment
amongst the new, young writers.
Another notable development is the presence of
women writers who are not only writing but writing well.
Until the present generation, there was only a single woman
writer (Vicenta Moguel, 1782-1854) in the history of Basque letters.
Until ten years ago, there were only one or two women publishing
literary works. Four years ago
there were fewer than half a dozen. However,
today there are about a dozen women writers publishing regularly.
Few as yet, but a symbol to the new generations who will find
the path easier.
In sum, if before writers wrote and were read more
for political than literary reasons, today’s generation do not
approach literature as a sacrifice but rather as a pleasure.
They write out of vocation and read for enjoyment.
Consequently, there is a discernable tendency to reject works
lacking in quality.
The Great Contemporary Debates
Before finishing, and only briefly, I wish to
mention some of the polemics with respect to literature that are being
debated in the Basque Country today.
On the one hand, the language itself is a constant
theme for discussion. Should the
living language of the street, the urban argot, be employed (rather
than the unified literary dialect Euskera Batua) and to what degree are
grammatical transgressions permissible in the interest of greater
expression?
On the other hand, some writers believe that the use of Basque
dialogue in an urban setting (where in fact Spanish is used almost
exclusively) undermines the authenticity of a narrative.
For this reason, there is a tendency to invent imagined
geographic settings.
Another of the polemics regards the function of
literature. Those who
emphasize esthetics are opposed to those who believe that literature
must be compromised, i.e. directed at real world issues.
At times there have been debates concerning the excessive use of
experimental techniques rather than employing lineal narrative.
Some believe that it is time to return to simple
“storytelling.”
Lastly, there is a polemic regarding the utility
of literary competitions. Are
they of political value, do they foster literacy competence and, in the
final analysis, do they have positive results when it comes to
furthering Basque literature and supporting its authors?
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