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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue
54, 1996
More Women than You
Think!
Linda White, Assistant Coordinator of the Basque
Studies Program, successfully defended her dissertation in
April 1996 to complete a Ph.D. in Basque Studies (Language
and Literature). White’s dissertation is titled
“Emakumeen Hitzak Euskaraz: Basque Women Writers of
the Twentieth Century.”
Basque literature has long been viewed as a male
domain. Only six women appear with regularity in literary
histories of Basque literature. In the twentieth century,
Basque women began writing in Euskara in greater numbers,
but their visibility has remained low or non-existent.
Basque critics and female writers alike assert that only a
handful of women, perhaps ten, are currently creating
written works in Euskara.
This lack of women writers is a myth, nurtured by the
isolation of the women involved and the acceptance of the
existing canon of Basque authors, a canon selected by male
critics. Women are writing in Euskara in every genre. They
are especially evident in children’s literature, drama,
and poetry, but they also write short stories and novels.
They are active in the effort to teach Basque. Because of
this, their creative efforts are often regarded as
pedagogical tools instead of literature. Next to Bernardo
Atxaga, the Basque-language writer with the highest profile
abroad is a woman, Mariasun Landa, whose books are
translated into several languages. She is marginalized,
however, because she writes children’s
books.
Five women writers and their works are profiled
through interviews conducted in the Basque Country. Itxaro
Borda, Arantxa Iturbe, Mariasun Landa, Amaia Lasa, and Laura
Mintegi talk about their lives, their creative process, and
the influences on their works.
The names and contributions of 144 women (including
23 oral artists) are presented together for the first time
in this herstory of Basque literature, revealing 43
women who were writing before the Spanish Civil War and 78
who wrote after. The myth of the lack of women writers in
Euskara is put to rest.
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