Cultural activities

Conversations on Contemporary Basque Novel

Conversations on Contemporary Basque Novel Pixabay

A few years ago, Irene Larraza, director of the Etxepare Basque Institute, said that the work of Basque authors can coexist today as equal with that of top-level artists from all over the world. This affirmation seems to be shared today by anyone who has some familiarity with Basque art and literature, especially contemporary works. It is a statement that on the other hand, expresses an extraordinary fact, that such a generally perceived minor tradition, neglected subject area and also expressed in a language which was not regarded for decades, if not centuries, and subjected to all kinds of discrimination, has been able to develop in the short space of time, over the last 40 to 50 years to the point of being able today to offer its recipients - and in abundance – what the best artistic creators have tried to produce: delight, knowledge, emotion, surprise, consolation. Basque literature has also travelled this fruitful path. We are obviously talking about a small literary tradition, where comparison in terms of volume with more widely spoken languages would not be relevant, whose impact on the rest of the world will never cease to remain. Today Basque literature depicts the world practically as any other literature can do. It is a literature of the world and for the world. Universal, yes; but also unique, because it is the expression of a series of features – social, political, cultural features – that are not necessarily found in all parts of the planet. It is a literature to discover. The Instituto Cervantes in Manchester and Leeds invites you to find out more first hand through a series of talks with Basque writers that are scheduled from June 2022 to February 2023.


Gorka Mercero Altzugarai (Donostia-San Sebastian, 1969) completed a degree in Basque Philology at the University of the Basque Country (2000), a Masters in Critical Cultural Theory at Cardiff University (2004) and a Doctorate in Basque Literature at the University of the Basque Country (2012), in which he analysed the issue if memory and the incidence of postmodernism in the Basque novel in the last quarter of the 20th century. Since 2014 he has been the holder of the Basque Language and Studies position at the University of Liverpool. He has published various articles in Basque and English and a monograph in Basque, whose title can be translated Visions of the World in Contemporary Basque Literature: From the Crisis of Modernity to the Promise of Post-Identity (2017). He is currently working on a project that explores the apparent need for the defence of the Basque language and culture to stop being based on the idea of nation and instead embrace other models of community.

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