Role Of Language In Basque Nationalism example essay topic

Towards the end of the nineteenth century peripheral nationalisms began to form in the Spanish state, namely in the provinces and regions where languages other than Castilian were spoken. This essay is going to focus on the two most prominent nationalist movements that took place at that time within both the Basque Country and Catalonia. It is an age-old belief that a people's individuality resides in its language and therefore the promotion and protection of language has often played an essential part in forming the basis of nationalist theories. One of the first writers to stress the importance of language as a marker of national identity was Herder who wrote 'language is the soul of a nation, without which a nation cannot exist.

' The vernacular is considered to be one of the most central aspects of identity by many intellectuals. Joshua A. Fishman writes in Language and Nationalism that; One of the major motivational emphases of modern nationalism has been that the ethnic past must not be lost for within it could be found both the link to greatness as well as the substance for greatness itself. It was on both these accounts that "the mother tongue became almost sacred, the mysterious vehicle of all the national endeavours". [Jas zi, The Dissolution of the Has burg Monarchy] In light of this statement I am going to discuss to what extent the languages Euskera and Catalan were vehicles in the appearance and consolidation of their respective nationalisms. I will look at the histories of the two languages and how they were utilised by various nationalist leaders to promote the nationalist movements within their regions. Firstly I am going to discuss Catalan as a language and the role it has played in the Catalan nationalist movement.

I will concentrate mainly on the importance of the Renaixenca as a basis for the foundation of Catalanism. Catalan, like French, Italian and Castilian, is a neo-Latin language. It is not 'a dialect of Spanish as many would have us believe. It is one of the great Romance languages, and it has a vast body of splendid literature, both medieval and modern, to prove it. ' At its peak Catalan was spoken far beyond the borders of present-day Catalonia and its neighbouring provinces, in fact it was also the main tongue in parts of Southern France, the Balearic's, and various enclaves in Italy, North Africa and Greece. During the eleventh and fourteenth centuries the language was so prestigious that it was considered to be on a par with Castilian and Portuguese within the Spanish Peninsula.

The language was spoken freely amongst the Catalan-speaking population 'and even as Catalan's political power diminished in the fifteenth century, Catalan can boast a Golden Age in letters. ' In 1716 Catalonia lost the autonomy it had previously held when Philip V passed a Royal Decree to prohibit all Catalan institutions and customs. This included the suppression of the Catalan language. What was lost in cultural freedom was made up for economically and the region prospered from its industry.

Catalonia became further distanced from the rest of the Peninsula and this possibly influenced the region alist movement. The growth of the economy in Catalonia continued in the nineteenth century and was paralleled by a cultural revival, namely within the field of Catalan literature. This revival was known as the Renaixenca, and having originated in the 1830's it formed 'part of the general awakening of romantic cultural nationalism and regionalism found in widely scattered parts of Europe'. The Renaixenca was built on a strong literary tradition dating back to the middle ages; it encompassed all the various art forms from sculpture to philosophy and spread throughout all Catalan-speaking regions. It was through this cultural revival that the first ideas of Catalonia having a distinct culture came to light. The poet Joaquin Rubio i Ors, who also went by the name of Lo Garter de Llobregat, penned several poems in his mother tongue and later, when he published an anthology of his works, he expressed the need to revive this unique culture.

As his works reached a wide audience it has long been considered to be 'the manifesto of the Renaixenca. ' Catalan literature was maturing and Catalan authors were highly revered throughout the Peninsula. Joan Mara gall, Joint Verd ague and Angel Guimer'a, the three leading Spanish poets of the time, all wrote in the Catalan language. The increased diffusion of Catalan through the region and the progress and achievements of Catalan authors within the Spanish state inspired thoughts of a nationalist nature. It became clear that the Catalan language played an important role in the regions separate cultural identity. Throughout the intellectual development of the ideas of the Renaixenca, language emerges as the central issue around which the Catalans based their claims to a separate identity.

It is considered that the Renaixenca marked the birth of the Catalan nationalist movement; it provided a solid foundation upon which Catalanists could base their arguments and ideas. In Catalonia the Renaixenca provided an essential basis for the subsequent spread of nationalism. Its success and the rich output of Catalan literature ever since constitute a solid base upon which political nationalism could build its legitimacy. Language was not the only catalyst in the birth of Catalan nationalism, according to several local historians 'Catalanism was generated by the confluence of four distinct strains; cultural revival, traditionalist Car lism, republican federalism and industrial protectionism' yet it was the most visible and soon became the pivotal instrument in defining Catalan national identity.

In the first explicit nationalist publication in 1886, entitled Lo Catalanism, Valent'i Almirall 'singled out the outstanding aspects of Catalan character and mentality, and language began to move centre-stage, as one means of defining national identity among others. ' He considered language to be 'the main visible manifestation of a people's personality' Almirall was not alone in expressing the symbolic and instrumental role of the Catalan language within the nationalist movement of Catalonia. Following Catalanism leaders and sympathisers have voiced similar opinions on the importance of the preservation of language and consequently identity. The Bishop of Vic, Josep i Ages recognised that 'language is the people... the thought of a nation, it is what characterises and portrays it... Among all social bonds, apart from religion, language is the most deeply unifying.

Ferrate r i Mora, as cited in Daniele Conversi's The Basques, The Catalans and Spain, writes 'The Catalan personality can only be fully expressed through the intermediary of its language. When the latter recedes, the former fades, weakens and becomes corrupted... the Catalan ceases to be a Catalan... [and], in ceasing to be a Catalan... he / she ceases simply to be. Once a nationalism has been established as a political movement it needs to draw upon a pre-existing definition of what forms that particular national identity. In the case of the Catalans this had already been put in place by the cultural revivalists of the Renaixenca. Therefore it can be said that language and literature paved the way for the linguistic nationalist movement that followed. Moreover, since the language was widespread and accepted by all levels of society language formed an ideal symbol and instrument of cultural identity for the whole Catalonian population.

Catalan nationalists consistently focussed on the issue of linguistic rights. For them, as well as for the lay people, language was both a symbol and an essential instrument for the diffusion and expressiveness of their own culture. (emphasis my own) I am now going to discuss the role of language within Basque nationalism. I will comment on how the vernacular has discontinuously emerged as a key issue within the Basque Country. Unlike Catalan, the Basque language, or Euskera as it shall be referred to throughout this essay, does not come from the same family as French, Spanish and Italian.

In fact the exact origins of Euskera are not known and are often deliberated upon. The Basque language is not an Indo-European tongue and no relation has ever been directly established between it and any other language. Euskera is not a widely spoken language; its usage has deteriorated throughout the ages. As Teresa del Valle writes 'Euskara is a minority language within a territory that at one time was predominantly euskara-speaking. ' Moreover it did not exist in a standardised form and at least eight different dialects were present in the region. People from different regions could not communicate with one another in their own language and loyalty amongst elites and litterateurs was low and so Castilian displaced Euskera as the principal tongue of the Basque Country.

Another explanation for this displacement is offered by Stanley Payne, who writes; Basque, which is essentially a primitive tongue, was ill suited to culture, administration, and diplomacy, so that vernacular Castilian or a variant thereof has been the official language of Basque territories South of the Pyrenees ever since the ninth or tenth century. The Basque Country did not benefit from the type of cultural revival that the Catalans experienced through the nineteenth century Renaixenca, nor could it boast a significant literary history. The language was regarded as being unrefined and as symbolizing the poor rural communities of the region. Leading Spanish prose writers of the twentieth century, Unamuno and Pio Baroja, although Basque, chose to write in Castilian. Basque literature was a frail growth represented mainly by a certain amount of poetry and essays; it altogether lacked the abundance, variety and distinction of neo-Catalan literature, nor would the primitive vocabulary and structure of the tongue have easily permitted more.

It is due to the sparse dispersion of Euskera within its own community and its lack of representation and achievement in the Peninsula as a whole that in the beginnings of the Basque nationalist movement language did not take a central role. Basque nationalism arose in the late nineteenth century as a result of the imposed threats of rapid industrialisation and the abolition of the system of 'fueros' that they had enjoyed for centuries. Sabino Arana, the founder of Basque nationalist ideology placed the importance of language secondary to that of race. 'In his early formulations, language was not a core value and was replaced by race and religion. ' Dice Sabino: "los elements o car " act eres de la nacionalidad son cinco: 1, raza; 2, lengua; 3, gobierno y l eyes; 4, car " after y costumbres; 5, personalidad hist " or ica" (Bizkaitarra) Arana used the history of Euskera to prove his theory of the Basques forming a pure race, the basis of Basque nationalism at that time.

He used the fact that Euskera had not been influenced by any other language and that the Basque Country had never been invaded by the Moors to prove that the Basque race was pure. To Sabino Arana... the purity of a language was a good indicator of the purity of a race. According to this logic, the patent originality of Euskera and its lack of 'contamination' by other languages convincingly demonstrated the purity of the Basque race. He did not use language as a unifying element of integration, as had occurred with Catalan but rather as a means of defining 'us' from 'them'. For the Catalans it would be a great glory if the Spanish government appointed Catalan as the official language of all Spain; on the contrary, if it were to do the same to Euskera, it would be for us the final blow of unavoidable death... ' Arana and his supporters believed that language was simply symbolic and it didn't matter if no-one could speak it.

Race was a more important element. They wanted to maintain the division between the Basques and the newcomers, to protect the purity of the race. Rather than trying to revive or encourage the spread of Euskara, he and his followers chose rather to use it as an ethnic boundary. His aim became not so much to preserve the language as to preserve a sense of 'unique' Basque racial purity. Sabino Arana manipulated the Basque language in order to perpetuate its unintelligibility, a trait of which many Basques were proud. He complicated, distorted and 'cleansed' the language of any Spanish influences.

He invented a 'purified idiom virtually alien from the language spoken by the common people' and 'established an alphabet with a different order. ' It was not until the Franco era that the role of language in Basque nationalism began to change. During his dictatorship Franco suppressed anything he perceived as being non-Spanish or as being distinct to the Spanish nation. Basque language was prohibited in schools and other public situations. It was not until the Basques realised that they were gradually losing their mother tongue that language shifted into a more influential role. It was not until well into the Franco period that a reformation of Basque nationalism took place, with the language gradually emerging as the critical element of the identity / differentiation of Basque ness.

New theories arose detailing the necessity for language survival. A shift was made from racial concerns to a more cultural nationalism. When Euskera ceases to be a spoken language, the Basque people will have died; and in a few years time the successors of today's Basques will be no more than Spaniards or Frenchmen. (Sarraith de Ihartza) The Basques realised the necessity of rescuing the language from 'zealous nationalists' and placing it into the hands of language experts. 'The goal was not only to create a proper grammar, syntax and lexicon, but also to enhance its social status in terms of prestige, literacy, publishing and use in academic milieu x. ' This objective was aided by the creation of ikastolas, schools for the teaching of Euskera, which increased in number from 3 in 1960 to 160 by 1975.

Today Euskera plays an integral role in defining what it means to be a Basque, and although certain sectors of the nationalist movement, namely ETA, have taken a violent turn they are still fighting to preserve and improve the status of their language as an indication of their individual identity and as a key element in nationalist discourse. Language is often considered to be the most natural form of expressing identity and in regions where the use of the vernacular is increased separate nations may arise, as we have seen in the Basque and Catalan cases. The question is to what extent did the vernacular play an essential role in the appearance and consolidation of the respective nationalisms? In Catalonia language is to a large extent the 'flagship of Catalan nationalism' The prestige of the Renaixenca literature, the availability of a rich and lively language and the wide diffusion of the vernacular, (over 5 million people speak Catalan) greatly facilitated the Catalan nationalist movement. Language, unlike in the Basque case, always played a constant and pivotal role in Catalanism and it is this continuity that provided the movement with such strength and stability.

Catalonia was conceived as a nation by virtue of its linguistic distinctiveness, and hence the relationship between language and nation was always central to all nationalist discourse. (emphasis is my own) Even though, like Euskera, the use of Catalan was banned under the two dictatorships of the twentieth century, it survived due to the widespread use it enjoyed before its suppression. The majority of Catalans never stopped using the language in their private lives and this benefited the nationalist cause. It also helped that the language had been 'fully standardised at the beginning of the twentieth century by Pompe u F abra, and is now universally accepted by all Catalans. ' Catalanists never ceased to promote the importance of their language as an indicator of national identity in their nationalist discourse, as Prat de la Riba stated; We saw that Catalonia had a language, a law, an art of its own, that it had a national spirit, a national character, a national thought: Catalonia therefore was a nation. On the other hand in the beginnings of Basque nationalism language always played a secondary role to that of race. Sabino Arana manipulated Euskera, as he had done other symbols of the Basque nationalist movement, such as the name, Eus kadi, the flag and the anthem, to support his ideas of a pure race.

In doing so he created much confusion and fragmentation within Basque nationalism. He was not concerned with the preservation of the language as a symbol of identity, he was more preoccupied that other 'races' did not learn the language. He went as far as to say that 'if our invaders were to learn Euskera, we would have to abandon it, carefully archiving its grammar and dictionary, and dedicate ourselves to speaking Russian, Norwegian, or any other language, as long as we were subject to their domination. ' It was not until the Franco period and the foundation of ETA that the Basque movement took on a more ethnonationalist approach. 'To et arras, Euskera is the maximum expression of the national personality' and 'a central cultural prop, a besieged form of distinctiveness which was being attacked by the Francois t regime and which had to be maintained. ' Although language played a secondary role in the foundation of the ideology of Basque nationalism it played a central role in its preservation.

When the Basque movement re-emerged as a type of ethno-linguistic nationalism, 'the feeling for the language as a symbol of belonging to a social group, with a differentiated collective identity, led individuals who had never spoken it to learn Basque. ' This led to the foundation of various Euskera-teaching institutes, such as the ikastolas, which over the years have helped to foster the nationalist movement. The main difference between the two nationalisms discussed in this essay is that whereas the Catalans used their language to integrate the 'immigrants' or new-comers to the region, thus expanding the use of Catalan and increasing its social status, the Basques chose to use Euskera to exclude any non-Basque people. The Catalans stayed loyal to their language throughout the centuries and as a result they have managed to forge a link between their national identity and their language that appears unbreakable.

Today the Basque nationalists have moved away from any ideologies based on race and they too stress the central importance of language in their national identity. 'It appears that language, rather than race, can offer better prospects for successful ethnonationalist mobilization. '

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