Basque literature
Basque literature refers to the literary works of the Basques , past and present, that were written in the Basque language . Basque has a great oral tradition that has influenced Basque literature to this day.
history
The Basque song treasure should go back to the time of Charlemagne . Improvisational poetry by the Bertsolaris , the poets and singers who often appeared in pairs, was widespread in many different meters until the 19th century. The shepherd and humorist Pernando Amezketarra (1764–1823) was one of the historical Bertsolaris. The innovators of the bertso include Mattin Treku (1916–1981) and u. a. Maialen Lujanbio Zugasti (* 1976).
Written records, however, are rather rare. The first book in the Basque language, a collection of poetry by Pastor Bernat Etxepare (Bernard d'Echepare), was published in 1545. The first translation of the New Testament followed in 1571 on behalf of the Synod of Pau by the Reformed pastor Joanes Leizarraga (Juan Leiçarraga; Jean de Liçarrague), which was printed in La Rochelle , as well as several collections of sayings and others. a. by Esteban de Garibay. However, many printed works from this period have been lost.
Early flowering of Basque literature
In the 17th century the first dictionaries, navigation manuals for seafarers and other non-fiction books appeared in the Basque language, most of which were printed in France. Their function is explained by the extensive travels of the Basque whalers and fishermen who went as far as Labrador and sold the whale oil in England.
Pedro de Axular (1556–1644) created a religious prose work with Gero , which gave the Laboratory idiom of Lapurdi validity. Arnaut Oihenarte (1592–1667) was the first author of non-religious Basque poetry whose work has been preserved in print. In French he wrote L'art poétique basque , the first theoretical work on Basque literature. In it he demanded accuracy of metrics, richness in rhymes, the invention of new stanzas , sensitive treatment of the subjects and cultivated language. In 1729 the first surviving Basque grammar was published by M. de Larramendi (the grammar of Jacques de Béla from the 17th century has been lost).
In the 18th century, with the loss of importance for Basque shipping and fishing, literary productivity declined. The literary weight shifted to the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. The Guipuzkoan idiom , which was also cultivated by the Jesuits , thus gained in importance . However, many epics and amateur plays of the Baroque age were never written down. Francisco Xavier María de Munibe (1723–1785) founded the Sociedad Vascongada d Amigos des País in 1764 and appeared as a playwright. The first important work in the Biszkainischen idiom wrote Juan Antonio de Moguel (1745-1804).
The decline
Basque became a minority language on its own territory at least since industrialization. Partly due to publication bans, partly due to the intensified contacts and improved traffic conditions to Spain and France, the language was partially Romanized, which in France was less radical because here Basque is connected to Occitan dialects and not - as in Spain - directly to one Written language adjoined. This was accompanied by the decline of Basque literature, which reached its lowest point in the first third of the 19th century.
After the first Carlist uprising in 1833–1839 and the revolution of 1848, many Basques emigrated to France. During this time, works in the Basque language - mostly religious edification literature, historical writings, song collections or pastorals - were mainly published on the French side of the border. Until the middle of the 20th century, the dialect of the province of Lapurdi was again used most frequently in the written language. However, by 1879 only 101 books had been published in Basque, of which only four could be counted as 'literature' proper. Another 93 books have been translated into Basque. An important work of this era, which was shaped by authors from the French Basque Country, was Piarres Adames (1889) by Jean Baptiste Elissanburu , who praised the beauty of women and the virtues of Basque country life. Pierre Topet from Barcus (Barcoxe) (1786–1862) emerged through satires.
The 19th century Basque language movement
After the second Carlist War there was massive emigration from the Basque Country, especially to Latin America , from 1876 onwards , but shortly afterwards the Basque language movement in the Spanish part of the language area strengthened with Donostia as the spiritual center. The "Basque revival or Renaissance movement" ( Euskal pizkundea , 1887–1936) took the first concrete steps to standardize the written language on the basis of the central dialect of Guipúzcoa , which differs greatly from the dialects in the extreme west and east of the language area. The Basque national anthem Gernikako arbola ("Tree of Gernika") was written in Guipúzcoa in 1851 , authored by the bard José María Iparagirre (1820-1881).
During this time, interest in improvised folk poetry arose, there were local storytelling competitions and literary prizes. The late Romantic period still shaped the work of the poet Indalecio Bizcarrondo Ureña (1831–1876); he was killed by a grenade from the Carlist. Most of the authors of this period, such as Sabino Arana Goiri (1865-1903), belonged to the Basque nationalist movement. As a poet and journalist, Arana participated in the standardization of the Basque language. Txomin Agirre (Domingo Aguirre Badiola, 1864-1920) as a representative of Costumbrismo was known for his historical novels and descriptions of the environment ( Kresala 1901, Garoa 1909). Agirre's realism went so far that he wrote his novels in the dialect of the respective setting. José Manuel de Echeita (Etxeita) should also be mentioned as a novelist before the First World War . The Argentine- born doctor Jean Etchepare (1877–1935) became known as a writer of short stories and essays , an admirer of Agirre who, with his book Buruchkak ("Bundle of Ears"), which was previously unknown in Basque literature, introduced the form of autobiography .
The time between the wars
In 1918, the Euskaltzaindia ( Royal Academy of the Basque Language ) , which still exists today, was founded in Bilbao to promote the development and renewal of the Basque language and literature. In 1930, the Basque Country received limited autonomy. However, due to its traditionalist-religious orientation, the focus on extra-literary problems and the romanticization of the pre-industrial past, literature missed the connection with modernism and cultivated archaic values, themes and styles. José Mari Agirre Egaña (under the pseudonym Xabier Lizardi ) (1896–1933), a late exponent of Symbolism , brought Basque poetry to a climax with his narrow work, some of which was only published posthumously. Because of his unsurpassed descriptions of nature in Biotz-begietan ("With the heart and with the eyes", 1932) he is occasionally compared with the Spanish winner of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Literature, Juan Ramon Jiménez .
Efforts to create an independent Basque literature suffered a serious setback after the Spanish Civil War . Many authors had to go into exile in Mexico, according to Telésforo Monzón, or emigrated to Argentina, such as Juan Antonio de Irastasta. The cultural philosopher José Ariztimuño Olaso (pseudonym: "Aitzol", 1896–1936) and Esteban de Urquiaga (Estepan Urkiaga, 1905–1937), a friend of Federico García Lorca , were murdered. Others were arrested, such as the poet and priest Nemesio Etxaniz (1899–1982), who later came into conflict with the Church again. The historical opus Euskaldunak (“The Basques”) by Nicolas Ormachea (1888–1961), consisting of 12,000 verses, could not appear until 1950.
The modern
From the late 1950s onwards, with the boom in the Basque economy, a hesitant liberalization of the French language policy began. First in parish schools, then in adult education, the Basque language was used again. A fresh start in literary production, with magazines such as Egan and Eusko Gogoa playing an important role. The so-called "Generation of 1956" modernized Basque literature and freed it from its nationalist and religious fixation. At the same time, their representatives tried to standardize the fragmented dialects.
The linguist José Luis Álvarez Enparantza (1929–2012), who had only learned the Basque language at the age of 17 and became known under the name Txillardegi , published the Sartre- influenced novel Leturiaren egunkari ezkutua ( The Secret Diary of Leturia ) in 1957 , which was known as Basque literature on the threshold of modernity was considered to be the “watershed”. In this novel, a first-person narrator appears for the first time, he is set for the first time in an urban milieu. Txillardegi co-founded ETA in 1959 and the Basque National Socialist Party (ESB) in 1976 , a forerunner of Herri Batasuna . He wrote about 30 books and had a major impact on Basque culture and the national movement.
The lyricist and dramatist Gabriel Aresti (1933-1975) and the thematically and stylistically oriented to Charles Baudelaire and French symbolism , the French Jon Mirande (1925-1972) (the so-called generation of 1956 ) tried to overcome the traditionalism and costumbrismo of Basque literature and established the connection to modern European literature. Aresti played an important role at the Arantzazu Congress (1968), which promoted the unification of the Basque language.
Many authors make their living from other academic professions. The stories and novels of the philosopher Gotzon Garate (1934–2008) follow the realistic line of tradition . The sociologist and author Ramon Saizarbitoria (* 1944) published the experimental novel Egunero Hasten Delako ( Porque empieza cada día , Because it begins every day ) in 1969 in the wake of the French Nouveau Roman . The philologist Xabier Kintana (* 1946) wrote the first Basque science fiction novel.
Since 1978, with the elevation of Basque as the regional official language in the provinces of Vizcaya , Guipúzcoa, Álava and parts of Navarre, and since the Law on the Normalization of the Basque Language, which came into force in 1982, there has been a lively production of literature in Basque. Around 1200 to 1500 titles are republished every year; mostly these are translations. Novels and collections of short stories usually have a print run of around 1500 copies. There are around 100 publishers in the Basque Country. About 300 authors write in Basque, about 10 percent of whom are women. Joxe Azurmendi (* 1941) is an important promoter of the spread of the Basque language, an essayist and expert on German Romanticism . The philologist, poet and narrator Ibon Sarasola (* 1946) headed the work on the Diccionario General Vasco ( Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia ) from 1987 to 2005 with over 125,000 entries and is currently working on even more extensive Basque dictionaries.
Many younger authors of the post-Franco era were members of the Basque national movement or dealt with post-Franquism at a central point in their works . a. the feminist poet, narrator and historian Arantxa Urretabizkaia (* 1947), who began to write under the influence of French literature, especially Simone de Beauvoir , in the early 1970s . She translated works by Frantz Fanon into Basque and was best known for her short novel Why Panpox (1979). With the decline of Basque industry in the 1980s, the national movement radicalized.
The presence
Bernardo Atxaga (* 1951) became internationally known as a poet as well as an author of books for young people and realistic novels. His collection of stories Obabakoak , (1988) was translated into over 30 languages and filmed under the title Obaba . His novel The Accordionist's Son (2006), which he worked on for 15 years, deals with the taboo subject of treason in the underground movement. Atxaga owes his fame to the fact that he translates his books into Spanish himself and that some of them are played abroad. B. Hamburg a scene of Obabakoak .
Edorta Jimenez (* 1953) deals with historical and current topics from his homeland Mundaka , such as the turmoil of the civil war in The Noise of the Crickets (2007). He also stood out aly lyric poet. Laura Mintegi (* 1955), historian, psychologist, translator and professor for language and literature didactics , writes novels and short stories. She is chairman of the Basque section of the PEN club and MP for the bourgeois nationalists. The novelist and translator Joseba Sarrionandia (* 1958) was imprisoned as an ETA member for five years. He addresses the fate of Basque refugees in his novel The Frozen Man (2007). In his novel Twist (2011), Harkaitz Cano (* 1975), a versatile, multiple award-winning author, also deals with material from the time of the struggle of the ETA in the 80s, borrowing a lot from the art history of the 20th century.
Iñigo Aranbarri (* 1963), who worked for the literary magazines Susa and Bazka , became known as a poet, novelist and critical essayist. His novel Holes in Water (2012), the story of an anthropologist and an Argentine emigrant who salvage the bones of the inhabitants of villages that will disappear under a reservoir, and are confronted with the history of the recent past, has been translated into German .
Nowadays, novels, short stories and short stories clearly dominate the genres. Also Thriller are increasingly being written in the Basque language (eg. B. The Lonely Man by Bernardo Atxaga, 1994). However, the small number of translations remains a major obstacle to the international dissemination of Basque literature.
Basque history and the present are also dealt with by Spanish-speaking writers from the Basque Country. B. by Ramiro Pinilla (1923-2014) in his family epic Verdes valles, colinas rojas (2004).
Stylistic peculiarities
The young generation has already completed their school or university education in the standard Basque language (Euskara Batua) . Nevertheless, local dialects are of great importance, for example to indicate the origin of the speakers. They differ greatly from the Batua. The choice of words is often more oriented towards the phonetic sound of the word than the content, and the message is conveyed via the “melody” of the sentences. A common element is lyrical repetitions and rhymes, which the style doesn't have to suffer from. Since the verb stock is more limited than in German and a few verbs dominate quantitatively ( make , be , let , remain ), a literal translation would lead to a strong flattening.
The forms of address are also very complicated. Their use is not common practice, but the expression of a certain cultural and intellectual environment, which makes translation difficult. Basque language often lacks technical terms that have to be paraphrased in a complicated way.
literature
- Joxe Azurmendi: The importance of language in the Renaissance and Reformation and the emergence of Basque literature in the religious and political conflict area between Spain and France. In: Wolfgang W. Moelleken, Peter J. Weber (eds.): New research on contact linguistics, Bonn, Dümmler 1997, ISBN 978-3-537-86419-2 .
- Wilhelm Giese: The Basque Literature, In: Kindlers new Literature Lexicon, Munich 1996, pp. 105-107,
- Jon Kortazar Uriarte: Basque Literature: Essais. Translated by Reiner Wandler. Edition Tranvía, Walter Frey, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-925867-77-4 .
- Mari Jose Olaziregi: Basque Literary History. Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada ISBN 978-1-935709-19-0
- Natalie Schilling: Basque Language and Literature. GRIN e-book, 2009, ISBN 978-3-640-29737-5 .
- Ibon Sarasola: Historia social de la literatura vasca . Akal, 1976.
- Basque literature. In: The Brockhaus Literature. Mannheim 1988, Vol. 3, pp. 192-194.
Web links
- Portal of Basque poetry from five centuries (multilingual)
- Basque literature website (French), including: Basque literary history (Spanish)
- Basque literature in biographies
Individual evidence
- ^ Basque literature , in: Der Literatur-Brockhaus, Mannheim 1988, vol. 1, p. 192f.
- ↑ http://basquepoetry.net/?i=poemak-de&b=1439 Basquepoetry.net
- ↑ http://www.basqueliterature.com/basque/historia/klasikoa/XVII.%20mendea
- ↑ Basque Literature , 1988, p. 193.
- ^ Wilhelm Giese, 1996, p. 105
- ↑ Keyword Basque language u. Literature in: Pierers Universallexikon , Vol. 2, Altenburg 1857, online
- ↑ The Awakening of Basque Literature , Basque Country ( Memento of May 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) at www.transkript-review.org
- ↑ www.euskomedia.org
- ↑ Basque Literature , 1988, p. 193.
- ↑ Basque Literature , 1988, p. 193.
- ↑ Lapurdum (in French)
- ↑ Basque Literature , 1988, p. 193.
- ↑ Collected works: Obra guztia: Poemak. Obras completas. Poesia , Bilbao: Kriselu 1976 (bilingual)
- ↑ His novel Haur besoetakoa from 1959 (Spanish: La ahijada , Pamplona: Pamiela 1991) was compared with Nabokov's Lolita . It dealt with three taboo subjects: pedophilia, incest and suicide and could not be published in the Basque Country.
- ↑ http://www.gabrielaresti.com/mas-info/gabriel-aresti?lang=es
- ↑ See also: Ibon Izurieta, Ramón Saizarbitoria's High Modernist Novel in Contemporary Basque Literature , in: Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, vol. 8 (2004), pp. 75-86
- ↑ http://www.transcript-review.org/de/issue/transcript-5-/baskenland ( Memento from May 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://usuaris.tinet.cat/asgc/Forum/Autors/uribarri/uribarri2.html
- ↑ http://usuaris.tinet.cat/asgc/Forum/Autors/uribarri/uribarri2.html
- ↑ See Schilling 2009, p. 12