History of the Basque language and culture Basque Country nowadays: geographical and political regions The Basque Autonomous Community The Autonomous

History of the Basque language and culture

Basque Country nowadays: geographical and political regions

The Basque Autonomous Community

The Autonomous Community of Navarre

• The three provinces within the French state.

Origins to the Middle Ages Many archaeological sites to prove

Palaeolithic existence. Romans and Greeks recorded existence of people and language from the C7th.

The Romans, Visigoths, Muslims, Franks and Normans all tried to conquer the Basque country and absorb their culture: all failed largely to integrate these people.

Were a people of confederate organization. The Duchy of Vasconia created in C7th and the Kindom of Navarre in C9th ruled by a monarchy for four centuries.

Navarre was the last region in the Iberian Peninsula to fall under Castillan control.

The Spanish Crown conceded each region in Spain the right to maintain juridical and legislative independence with a set of charters and statutes called fueros.

From this history we can see that a sense of separate cultural and political identity has existed for many centuries.

Augustin Chano (1811-58)

“saw all Basque history as a history of national defence against outside encroachment”.

The first to mention Euskal Herria as an oppressed ‘nationality’ ”

1545 - the first book written in Basque of which we have knowledge by the poet Bernard Dechepare.

Basque has always had a minority status. Even when most Basques were monolingual, the Basque language did not serve high functions. Eg.official documents were traditionally written in Latin or the Romance languages.

The existence of at least four varieties of the

language made it even harder to promote.

Some useful words…

Euskera – The Basque language

Euzkadi – word invented by Arana meaning ‘the place of Basque

race’

Euskaldunak – ‘speakers of Basque’

Batua – Standardised version of Basque Euskal-Herria – ‘country of Euskara’

Euskaldunberri – ‘new Basque speaker’

Middle ages to 1936• Basque Country – last region in Spain to

maintain their fueros.• 1876 – Second Carlist War. Abolition of fueros

and Basque autonomy.

Industrialisation – Modernisation – Nationalism - Racialism

Appeared on the scene together.

• 1890s – PNV (partido nacionalista vasco) – founded by Sabino Arana.

A political, isolationist and racialist nationalism.

Reaction to:

a) high immigration to the cities and huge social change

b) poor diffusion of the language

c) Difficulty faced by prospective learners

d) Unavailability of other national symbols

Also, heavily linked to Catholicism, with aims to provide welfare to the poor.

• Language

- Half-forgotten and derided by natives as anti-modern – just at the time when the Catalan revival was happening. - Was generally lost to the regional elite. Not even leaders of the PNV were regular users.

As a result language was side-lined and did not become a symbol of unity for nationalism.

• 1918 – The Congress of Basque Studies – acting independently of politics, the group of intellectuals aimed towards language reform.

• - The Basque Language Academy - was created aiming to work on a corpus of Euskera and its status.

Language planning arose in conjunction with a host of social concerns: public health, schools, social insurance, urban planning etc.

Fear of communism

Post-war depressionRuling classes support for centralist governments in

the hope of quelling working class unrest.

PNV turned to away from defensive nationalism to more dynamic anti-capitalist ideology.

Although, the precepts established by Arana dominated up until the Civil War

Remained crucial in the 1960s when Basque nationalism turned to Marxism.

• 1923-30: Primo de Rivera dictatorship.

Repression of nationalist parties = boosted nationalist feelings.

Fall of the dictatorship: both Catalan and Basque nationalism emerged with renewed vigour.

• 1930-36: PNV became a Republican nationalist party under the Spanish Republic and governed the autonomous government installed in the nine months before the outbreak of the Civil War.

1) Aberri Eguna (día Nacional Vasco)

• Domingo de Resurrección de 1882.

• Sabino Arana, fundador del Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV) y padre del nacionalismo vasco.

Evolución del nacionalismo vasco

• El PNV apoya al gobierno republicano, el cual, en Octubre de 1936, aprueba el Estatuto de Autonomía del País Vasco. José María de Aguirre (presidente del País Vasco) promueve la lengua vasca, establece el orden y proporciona y distribuye comida a la población.

• Con la llegada de la Guerra Civil, el PNV se divide:– Aquellos que van al exilio.– Aquellos que permanecen en el País Vasco (los más tradicionalistas y

separatistas).

● 1945-1947: tras finalizar la II Guerra Mundial, cuentan con el apoyo de los Aliados para luchar contra el fascismo.

● 1948-1952: con la llegada de la Guerra Fría, los americanos se muestran más tolerantes con el régimen franquista. En consecuencia, el nacionalismo vasco queda desprotegido y decae.

●1953-1960: nacimiento del nuevo nacionalismo.

Agrupaciones y actividades nacionalistas

• Emakume Abertzale Batzar: grupo de mujeres que llevan a cabo actividades culturales y caritativas.

• Euzko Gaztedi (EGI): Juventudes Vascas. Utilizan la violencia en contra de Franco.

• Confederación de Entidades Vascas de América.• Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV):

– Interés por la difusión de la cultura (música, arte y folklore), la lengua y el nacionalismo vasco.

– En Septiembre de 1955 publicó un artículo sobre los deberes que tenía un buen nacionalista vasco:

a) Acudir y participar activamente en las reuniones del PNV.b) Enseñar la cultura y lengua vasca en casa.c) Difundir y hacer propaganda del nacionalismo vasco.• Euzkadi ‘ta Askatasuna (ETA)

– 1952: fundación en la Universidad de Deusto por siete estudiantes.– Libro Vasconia, escrito por Federico Krutwig.

Ikastolas (escuelas vascas)

• 1950: en casas e iglesias de manera clandestina.

• Se prohíbe la enseñanza del euskera.• 1970: son pocos los niños que acuden a las

ikastolas, no sólo por miedo sino también por el alto coste.

• Finales 1970: se considera que las ikastolas han conseguido que la lengua vasca sea considerada como una lengua capaz de adaptarse a la sociedad moderna y tener un papel esencial en la educación.

Represión por parte de Franco • 1937: caída de Bilbao. Supresión de la lengua vasca, cierre de

universidades vascas, prohibición de sociedades culturales vascas, en los registros civiles los nombres vascos se cambian por nombres españoles, se queman libros escritos en vasco.

• Se controla la distribución de alimentos, a los nacionalistas vascos no se les permite tener propiedades, alrededor de mil niños vascos fueron enviados a Rusia, 3500 vascos emigraron a México, Venezuela y Argentina.

• 1968: Ley General de Educación. Se legalizan las ikastolas y se

autoriza la enseñanza de lenguas regionales. Se reanudan los

sermones en vasco y se permiten las agrupaciones de música y

danza.• 1975: protección de las lenguas regionales, siempre y cuando se

siga considerando el español como lengua oficial.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

• Spanish Constitution 1978 (Section 3 preamble):

-‘Spanish is the official language of the State,’

-‘The other Spanish languages shall also be official in the respective Self-governing communities in accordance with their Statutes’

• Basque Government formed in 1979

• Basque Statute of Autonomy 1979 (Article 6):

-‘Euskera, the language of the Basque People, shall, like Spanish, have the status of an official language in Euskadi. All its

inhabitants have the right to know and use both languages,’

-‘The Royal Academy of the Basque Language is the official advisory institution in matters regarding Euskera.’


• HABE (Instituto para la Euskaldunización y Alfabetización de Adultos) • -Set up by the Basque Government in 1981• Attached to the Basque Department of Culture, it was created by the ‘Ley 29/1983’• -With its creation, the teaching of Basque took a new dimension, eg, he increased

production of Basque teaching materials-Various functions to carry out its mission, eg, the design and implementation of the curriculum for the teaching of Basque to adults

• Elbide (Servicio para la Garantía de Derechos Lingüísticos)

· -Set up by the ‘Viceconsejería de Política Lingüística’ as a result of the ‘Decreto 150/2008’

· -Its aim is to achieve a real balance between the two official languages of the Basque Country

· -It does this by ensuring that everybody has the possibility to live normally within the limits of their language, whatever it may be


• Euskaltzaindia (The Academy for the Basque Language)

• -Made the official consultative body of the Basque language by the Statute of Autonomy 1979 (Article 8)• -The work of Euskaltzaindia is concerned with both the corpus and the status of the language:• -Art.1. ‘The aim of this institution is to watch over the Basque language, paying close attention to its

promotion, both philologically and socially.’ • -Art.2. ‘Accordingly, the Academy deals with both these areas in their respective sections: the Research

Section and the Tutelary Section, with members belonging to both.’

-Creation of Batua – the standardised version of the Basque language

• EAS (System of Linguistic Indicators of Euskal Herria)

-Designed to provide local government, agents and organisations with detailed information about the status of the Basque language within the Basque country

-This information is necessary in order to determine and evaluate the performance of the linguistic policies and initiatives underway and to be able to adopt, in each particular area, the measures required to develop and improve these.

-Linguistic indicators must take in consideration the factors present in each individual context, the operation, costs and results of the aforementioned linguistic policies and initiatives and determine in what areas these may be lacking.

Language Planning Measures put in place post-Franco

• Ley Básica de la Normalización del Uso del Euskera / Law for the Normalisation of the Use of Basque 1982.

• This included:• - the right of students or their parents to choose the medium of

instruction is established;• - pre-university students must receive language classes in the

official language not used as medium of instruction;• - the Basque Government is to define the bilingual teaching models

to be offered to parents;• - the Basque Government will take measures with regard to

teachers’ language competence, plans of study and teacher training colleges in order to be able to satisfy parental demand for Basque-medium and language teaching.

Language Planning Measures put in place post-Franco

• Three linguistic models introduced into education system as a result of the 1983 law which established the use of Basque at pre-university levels in the BAC. Children can complete their studies in one of the three following models:

• Model A• Spanish as teaching medium, Basque as a subject (4 to 5 hours per week).• Model D• Basque as teaching medium, Spanish as a subject (4 to 5 hours per week).• Model B• Both Spanish and Basque as medium subject.• In this model the first three years of school are generally taught through

Basque. At the age of six - the first year of primary education, they start to learn the reading–writing process and mathematics in Spanish.

• Model X, - not official and has practically disappeared. • Spanish is used as the teaching medium and no Basque is present.• This was the regular programme during Franco´s regime.

Which Model has become the most Popular?

• The figures for students enrolled in Model D have increased, while those enrolled in Model A have decreased.

• 1983-84 Model A: 72.8%, Model B: 10.5%, Model D: 16.5%• 2002-03 Model A: 30.6%, Model B: 22.5%, Model D: 46.4%• Lasagabaster, D., and Huguet, A., Multilingualism in European

Bilingual Contexts: Language Use and Attitudes, (Clevedon, [England], Buffalo, Multilingual Matters, 2007) p.69

• Euskal Ikasmaterialgintza (EIMA) programme for primary and secondary schools

• The Department of Education subsidises the publication of school materials (printed, audio, audio-visual, computer programmes and CD-rom), so as to ensure that parents choosing Basque as a medium for the education of their children do not have to spend more on learning materials as a result of the smaller market

University Education

The Spanish Ley de Orgánica de Universidades, approved in 2001 has been applied to the Basque Autonomous Community.

Universities in the BAC must: • Promote the defence, study and promotion of

the Basque cultural heritage.• Promote the Basque Language. • Introduce Basque in all areas of knowledge so

as to contribute to the normalisation of the use of Basque.

Failures of the Education System

• One of the weaknesses of Basque in education is its degree of dependence on non-native speakers

• The demand for teaching depends on parental choice, there is no guarantee that demand will continue to expand.

• The use of Basque in education is linked to nationalist politics. A decline in nationalist strength could eventually lead to stagnation or some decline in the offer of Basque language teaching.

Failures of the Education System

• ‘The role of the school is vital, but the production of competent second-language speakers is not enough to ensure the survival of Basque; it cannot improve the situation on its own, Institutional action alone, without the support of social movements, is incapable of carrying out this task successfully.’ Lasagabaster, D., and Huguet, A., Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts. p.67

Politics of the Basque Country after Franco.• After Franco’s repression of Basque culture and language, the people began to want

to recover them. Legalisation and proliferation of Ikastolas, Euskaltegis (Basque schools for adults), Bertsolaritza classes (a type of singing in Basque).

• First general elections in 1979 saw EAJ-PNV (Basque Nationalist Party) and Herri Batasuna (People’s Unity) received the most votes.

• Elections have generally followed this trend ever since, with a gradual increase in votes for the three main national parties (PP, PSOE and IU)

Politics of the Basque Country after Franco.


• HB a coalition of more radical political groups, which called for the KAS Alternative, which entailed

- Total amnesty for supporters/members of ETA. - Recognition of Basque national sovereignty with the right to form an independent nation state if so desired - Expulsion of all Spanish police forces (Guardia Civil, etc.) from Euskadi. - Autonomous powers over social, economic and political system.

They were also a lot more radical in their support for the Basque language- wanted an education system completely in Basque, as in Catalunya. They pushed for the creation of more Ikastolas, Euskaltegis, Basque-speaking youth groups etc.

• In 1998, during ETAs temporary truce, HB decided not to stand, however, most of its members did stand in the form of a temporary party Euskal Herritarrok, which denounced violence.

• Later, EH would reform and become Batasuna. In 2002, however, the party was declared illegal under the Ley Orgánica de Partidos Políticos, as it was considered by some to be the political branch of ETA.


• PNV less radical. They fully condemn ETA, and are more moderate on the issue of education in Basque.The Lehendakari (Basque President) has always been from PNV.

• Current lehendakari: Juan José Ibarretxe. Ibarretxe is famous as the author of the Ibarretxe Plan- new Statute of Autonomy. Its key points were:

-The people’s right to self-determination (i.e. independence)- Basques only part

of Spain by their own free choice.

-Separation of Basque Courts from Spanish courts.

-Creation of Basque citizens, and Basque nationals, with dual Spanish-Basque nationality possible.

• Plan was approved by the Basque parliament.

• In 2005 the plan was sent to the Spanish Congreso and was rejected, 313 votes to 29.


• Batasuna rejected it as it did not go far enough, only encompassing three of the seven Basque provinces, and allowing coexistence of Basque and Spanish nationality within Euskadi.

• ETAs violence, and Herri Batasuna’s failure to denounce it, have all served to

potentially damage the status of the Basque language- radical Basque nationalists defend and speak in Basque, and the two may become associated and dissuade its use. This does not happen, for example, in Catalunya and Galicia.


Effectiveness Of Language Planning Measures









Future Developments

• El Gobierno ha puesto en marcha una serie de planes para incrementar el uso del euskera en el mundo laboral.

• Programa LanHitz:

“El programa LanHitz es una iniciativa destinada a incrementar el uso y la presencia del euskera también en el mundo del trabajo.”

http://www.euskara.euskadi.net/r59-11477/es/

Future Developments

• Marco de Referencia Estándar:

“El Marco de Referencia Estándar, también denominado EME, es un cuadro de ayuda en el que se encuentran todos los campos propios de cualquier empresa con relación al lenguaje.”

Future Developments

• Plan General de Promoción del Uso del Euskera (EBPN) para seguir avanzando en la normalización lingüística.Tres objetivos básicos:

-La transmisión del euskera -Uso social

-Calidad de la lengua.

• Certificados que acrediten que las empresas llevan a cabo estos planes correctamente.

Future Developments

• Think Gaur Euskadi 2020, un proyecto que pretende conseguir una educación trilingüe y dar a conocer la cultura vasca.

• Continuar mejorando en materia educativa:

-Cualificación lingüística del profesorado -Estudios universitarios -Formación Profesional

Bibliography

The Franco years and beyond, Clark, Robert P.

The Basques, the Catalans and Spain, Conversi, Daniele

Divided Nations: class, politics, and Nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia, Díez Medrano, Juan

http://www.euskaltzaindia.net/erakundea/index.asp?gaia=egitasmoak&hizkuntza=en

http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/PDFs/basque_in_spain2nd.pdf

Lasagabaster, D., and Huguet, A., Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts: Language Use and Attitudes, (Clevedon, [England], Buffalo, Multilingual Matters, 2007)

http://www.thinkgaureuskadi2020.com/cast/index.asp

http://www.barcelona2004.org/esp/eventos/dialogos/docs/ponencias/151p_fetxebarriaesp.pdf


Urla, Jacqueline, 1993. Cultural politics in an age of statistics. Numbers, nations and the making of Basque Identity. American Ethnologist, 20:4 pp.818-843

http://www.euskaltzaindia.net/erakundea/index.asp?gaia=egitasmoak&hizkuntza=en

http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/PDFs/basque_in_spain2nd.pdf


Documents

History of the Basque language and culture Basque Country nowadays: geographical and political regions The Basque Autonomous Community The Autonomous