Basque nationalism's changing discourse on the nation

Abstract

The discourse on the nation is one of the theoretical cores of all expressions of nationalism, but varies in its elaboration from one to another and even within one particular form of nationalism by virtue of the identifying aspects that can be used in each case, and of historical and spatial context. The article analyses the example of Basque nationalism, which, through time, has developed two great official discourses and a third non-official one related to space. In effect, given that neither of the official discourses is entirely political and territorial, contradictions arise among nationalists (in the case of all of its trends) and, in particular, in certain areas not presenting the more or less primordial and objective characteristics. At the same time, a second, more subjective, discourse, one that is extendable to all nationalists and reaffirms them in their national identity, has developed in order to overcome these contradictions.

Keywords:

• nationalism
• Basque Country
• Basque nationalism
• national identity
• discourse on the nation
• nationalist mobilisation

Acknowledgements

This article is the result of research projects (1/UPV 00018.230-H-1593/2003; 1/UPV 0018.160-H-15882/2004) subsidised by the University of the Basque Country/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

Notes

1. The ethnic and political characteristics of the nation are a subject that has been academically amply studied, though diverse denominations are accepted (for different aspects, see Smith, 1971; Renaut, 1991; Herranz de Rafael, 1992; Hall, 1993; Kymlicka, 1995; Thom, 1995).

2. On the political nature of nationalism, see Breully, 1985; Blaut 1986; Agnew, 1989; Guibernau, 1996; Keating, 1996; Brass, 1991 ; Finlayson, 1998; etc. On the political nature of Basque nationalism, see Fusi, 1984; Santiago, 2001; Zabalo, 2004.

3. On the emergence of Basque nationalism, see García Venero, 1968; Beltza, 1974; Larronde, 1977; Elorza, 1978; Corcuera, 1979; Solozabal, 1979; Malherbe, 1980; Medhurst, 1982; Fusi, 1984; Jacob, 1994; Conversi, 1997; Diez Medrano, 1999; Pablo & Mees, 2005.

4. The most part of Arana's writings are limited to the province of Bizkaia as the territorial context; that is, the territory in which he lived. Nevertheless, there is more than one mention to the rest of the territories, and he proposes their federation within an independent Basque state (cf. Arana-Goiri, 1980).

5. As Banton says, ‘personal names are frequently interpreted as signs of ethnicity’ (1994, p. 9). In the case of the Basque language, its structure, completely different to the languages closest to it geographically speaking – French and Spanish – contributes to this labour of identification, as a surname from the Basque language is easily identified. An added problem for this theorisation is, however, the existence of surnames that do not come from Basque in inhabitants who are from the Basque Country.

6. Nationalism in Europe stands out for the importance given to language, not so much from the beginning, but particularly in the second half of the nineteenth century. Kamusella (2001) states its importance in Central Europe during those years. This period likewise saw the emergence of one of the forms of nationalism that afforded greatest importance to language, Catalan nationalism, of great influence on Basque nationalism. (On this nationalism see Colomer, 1986; Barrera et al., 1987; Marfany, 1995; Keating, 1996; Conversi, 1997.)

7. For Kymlicka, language plays a fundamental role in the political nation (1995, p. 42), and, unlike race, it is not an intrinsically exclusive or discriminatory element (p. 144, note 26). For Marianne Heiberg (1989), on the other hand, in the Basque case, the language fulfils the same political function as that fulfilled by race: the differentiation between Basque and foreigner.

8. Although it is not important for the article, the Spanish general elections of 2008 resulted in a slight drop in support for Basque nationalist forces, something quite normal in the case of these elections to the Spanish parliament, whereas in the case of elections to the Basque parliament, there is normally increased support.

9. The Basque identity has been studied in different works, as well as from different points of view. The University of Nevada's line of research, led by William Douglass, is classical. More recently, Eusko Ikaskuntza did major research, with abundant data, on the Basques’ perception of their cultural and national identity (Baxok et al., 2006). From a different viewpoint, Maxwell underlines the importance of the media “to produce a national imaginary for Basques in the post-Franco period” (1996, p. 350), and studies the contradictions implied by the same.

10. The groups were formed on the basis of people who called themselves Basque nationalists. Participants were people born in the town where the group met (or, if they were not born there, they had been living almost all their life in the town). The ideal was for each group to be formed by women and men; young and old; different tendencies of Basque nationalism (PNV, EA, Aralar, AB, Batasuna). However, the findings revealed no apparent differences depending on gender or political attachment, but some depending on their location, with the result that location proved to be of greater importance than the political differences between parties. In other words, depending on the place they live, the nationalists of a given area reacted as a whole in their understanding of the Basque nation and, thus, in Aulesti, all the participants, who held differing political options, underlined the importance of the Basque language, whereas, in Tudela, for example, nobody gave it such importance, irrespective of their political option.

Given that spontaneous answers were required, people who did not hold important official positions were invited to participate. The only subject of conversation proposed was how they understood Basque identity, and participants were allowed to spontaneously air their opinions on the same and on the role of the language in identity. As far as the results were concerned, the identification between identity and the Basque language was constant in the Aulesti pilot group, with no exception: all those taking part affirmed that the Basque language was the basis of the Basque nation. The said identification was scarce or non-existent in the case of the three groups on the periphery; and it was partial in the five groups in the intermediate area. At the close of the conversation, in order to go deeper into the subject, they were asked directly if they thought that there really was a relation between the Basque language and identity. In this case, all the groups (and practically all the participants) replied in the affirmative. However, after a few minutes, the direct query forgotten, each group returned to the argument prior to the question.

As for the chosen towns, Aulesti is a town of 600 inhabitants, 99% of whom are Basque speakers. As regards the others, the rate varies from 42% in Bilbao, and a little over 1% in Tudela (data corresponding to the 2001 census). It must be pointed out that schooling in Basque has led to an increase in the number of Basque speakers, which explains the relatively high figures for Bilbao and other towns in the Basque Autonomous Community. The big difference between Carranza and Valdegobía (both with a current rate of 19% of Basque speakers) and Tudela (Autonomous Community of Navarre) is due, precisely, to the compulsory schooling in Basque in the first two towns.

The group from Aulesti was considered the pilot group. It was assumed that if the official discourse of Basque nationalism gives priority to the linguistic factor as an agglutinating principal of Basque identity, in an area where the vast majority of nationalists use the Basque language, the official discourse would come to the surface and in no way be contested, as was the case, with no exception. Once this case was confirmed, no more groups were formed in the Basque speaking area, and the remaining problems were tackled.

In the case of the other groups, those corresponding to non-Basque speakers, it was assumed that identification with the official discourse and the need for the Basque language would diminish gradually from the area with no contact to peripheral areas, according as the use and contact with Basque decreased. In the event that the hypothesis were proven right, it was important to know how the discourse was substituted. This would show us the different ways of living nationalism in theoretically adverse conditions.The research was conducted jointly with senior lecturer Txoli Mateos, and subsidised by the University of the Basque Country.

11. The more or less inclusive nature of this way of understanding the nation could be discussed. It is evident that the aim is to exclude from the Basque nation those who do not share the national ‘sentiment’, but, the aspiration, on the other hand, is that all the inhabitants of the Basque Country share it. Kymlicka points out that ‘what distinguishes “civic” nations from “ethnic” nations is not the absence of the cultural component in the national identity, but rather the fact that anybody can be integrated in the common culture, no matter what the race or colour’ (1995, p. 143). From this point of view, the manifest will of Basque nationalism is that of a nation without exclusions.