Basque identity : fractured, divided, localised

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Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS)

Basque identity: fractured, divided, localised

James Laycock (10877010)

James.laycock@student.uva.nl

Ikurrina flying over San Sebastián atop Monte Urgull

Master Human Geography

Master Thesis Human Geography (73541020040) Political and Cultural Geographies of Multilingualism Dr. Virginie Mamadouh

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Front cover: Ikurrina flying over San Sebastián atop Monte Urgull (Source: Author 2015)

List of tables

Table 3.1: Contextual operationalization of variables………..…………...25

Table 3.2: Variables of identity in place-based cultural street landscape……....26

List of figures

Figure 4.1.1: Map of San Sebastián………...31

Figure 4.1.2: Map of Parte Vieja………..……….33

Figure 4.1.3: Photographs of Basque prisoners………...34

Figure 4.1.4: Flyer for Basque punk concerts………...36

Figure 4.1.5: Return Basque prisoners home flag………..……36

Figure 4.1.6: Bacalao (salted cod)………37

Figure 4.1.7: Idiazabel cheese………38

Figure 4.1.8: Tourist merchandise………...………38

Figure 4.1.9: Map of Centro Romántico………..………39

Figure 4.1.10: Boulevard – Zara………40

Figure 4.1.11: Boulevard……….41

Figure 4.1.12: Playa de la Concha……….……….41

Figure 4.1.13: Map of Amara……….43

Figure 4.1.14: Bertakoa delako (because it’s local)………..……44

Figure 4.1.15: 1936 mural………...44

Figure 4.1.16: Movistar defaced billboard……….45

Figure 4.1.17: Map of Antiguo………...46

Figure 4.1.18: Basque Pelota court………..…47

Figure 4.1.19: Eusko ‘K’ label cider and milk………..………47

Figure 4.2.1: Map of Guernica……….…………..49

Figure 4.2.2: Plaza in Guernica………...51

Figure 4.2.3: Removed graffiti………...……….51

Figure 4.2.4: Ikurrina in plaza………….……….……….52

Figure 4.2.5: Flags in Assembly House garden……….……..…………53

Figure 4.2.6: Picasso’s ‘Guernica’……….………54

Figure 4.3.1: Map of Heranai..……….…………..55

Figure 4.3.2: Alpine-style building in Hernani………..………..56

Figure 4.3.3: Photos of prisoners in street and return prisoners home flag……....…...57

Figure 4.3.4: Ikurrina’s adorning a residential building……….……..……...57

Figure 4.3.5: The feminist struggle……….………...58

Figure 4.3.6: Feminist graffiti………..58

Figure 4.3.7: Association of Multicultural Hernani (AMHER) food festival…...……...60

Figure 4.4.1: Baztán Valley landscape………...61

Figure 4.4.2: Baztán Valley trail map………...63

Figure 4.4.3: Street of Elizondo………..63

Figure 4.4.4: Palestine mural………..65

Figure 4.4.5: Scored-out Spanish on road sign………..66

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my thesis tutor Dr. Virginie Mamadouh for mentoring me from the first steps of building topic ideas to the final production of this report. Virginie’s able encouragement and words of advice were a constant source of wisdom that fuelled the development of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge my fellow Political and Cultural Geographies of Multilingualism group members, Abe Datema, Carmen Pérez del Pulgar and Nathalia Pereira Vredeveld whose critical review of my weekly updates proved to be an invaluable second opinion.

When conducting primary research in the Basque Country, a number of helpful individuals ranging from hostel owners to bus drivers provided useful information of places to visit with the purpose of exploring identity. Additionally, I would like to thank to the multitude of bartenders and shop owners who granted me permission to take photographs within their establishments. Significantly, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Bruno Abizen, my host in San Sebastián, who proved to be an admirable source of recommendation and merriment.

I would also like to thank my family and friends who have provided sound words of encouragement and offered priceless social grounding throughout the writing of this thesis. A final appreciation is extended to the University of Amsterdam for allowing me the opportunity to study a Master in Human Geography and to write the following thesis.

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

The geographical focus upon the Basque Country, Spain of this thesis was inspired by a holiday in the summer of 2013 in the area and became deeply intrigued by the land’s history, culture and language. This, combined with an avid interest in identity and nationalism has supplied the motivation for writing the following thesis.

1.2 Anticipation

The focus of this thesis, exploring the relationship between localised identity and the street landscape in the Basque Country will provide a meaningful insight into the importance of local context in shaping identity. Identity is a key term of human geography that profoundly influences the way an individual or collective justifies their existence, maintaining the power to mobilise politically and significantly alter understandings of nation, territory and community. It is the optimism that findings of this research will bridge a gap between theory and local context, as well as shed light upon how incremental and seemingly mundane street-level phenomena form identity. The thesis will encourage a local-level understanding of the Basque identity and facilitate an academic movement away from a focus on radicalism and broad territorial identity, towards the contemporary reality of the diverse nature of Basque communities.

1.2 Research question

The research question will form the central focus of this thesis; findings from primary research will be devoted to answering the following question and in doing so, will also address a number of sub-questions cited below.

What phenomena in the everyday street landscape contribute to the formation of a localised identity in the Basque Country?

a) How do street-level cultural and political phenomena shape a localised Basque identity?

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b) What factors characterise the local cultural landscape of San Sebastian (urban - Basque Country), Guernica, Hernani (small town - Basque Country) and the Baztán Valley (rural - Navarre)?

c) What contextual comparisons can be made between everyday cultural practices and place-based localised identity at these aforementioned locations?

d) Analyse and explain the similarities and variances in the cultural street landscape at each site.

e) What do the findings mean for Basque territorial identity?

1.4 Structure

This thesis will commence by providing a review of relevant theory in identity discourse and an insight into identity in the Basque Country, particularly focusing on the importance of understanding local scale. Core concepts of human geography will be acquired from the theoretical framework, which will serve to build the foundations of the analysis. A methodology will supply a detailed outline of the process undertaken to answer the aforementioned research question, before a descriptive analysis of place-based Basque identity is presented. A comparative analysis will then contrast findings across the locations to magnify and explain key themes present throughout the research, before finally, a conclusion will be composed that summarises and evaluates the thesis.

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2. Breaking down the Basque identity

Reviewing academic discourse is crucial to provide a broad understanding of a topic, analyse what has already been published and to identify any gaps in literature that could represent suitable points of analysis. This theoretical framework will instigate by conceptualising the broad notion of identity, analysing the way it is understood across spatial scales and in the face of globalisation. The review will then focus an analytical gaze upon theory relating to identity in the Basque Country, centring upon its relationship with the everyday cultural street landscape. Finally, core concepts will be drafted out of the theoretical review that will outline the key geographical terminology of this thesis.

2.1 Identity

The concept of identity is as complex as it is transformative, spatially and temporally transcending traditional ethnic, national, and linguistic boundaries. Simply, it determines an individual’s perception of the world and sense of belonging. Identity can signify conscience, be that individual or collective, guiding how one acts, perceives and transforms the world around them in their image, subsequently providing meaning and subsistence to their life. Identity justifies existence in time and space; it is what makes you live: everything else makes you survive (Castells 2000 p.5).

Individuals are spatially rooted in specific meanings throughout the world that profoundly shape identity, which is guided by their place-based experience and interpretation; Alarcón’s research in Mexico found that people are not born with identities, but come to consciously assume them (1990 p.250). This emergent form of identity makes us who we are, it is assumed from what one experience’s in life and is taught of tradition; neither general nor abstract and it must be situated historically (Zaretsky 1994 p.198). Identities are not accomplished fact, they are time and space transformative, culturally constructed and continually in production; ‘always relational and incomplete, in process’ (Grossberg 1996 p.89).

If identity is the construction of contextual meaning, then the recurrent practices performed by social actors are on the basis of meaningful attributes attained and reinforced; ‘people tell others who they are, but even more important, they tell themselves and then they try to act as though they are who they say they are’ (Holland et al. 1998 p.3). In many cases,

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these intentional or unintentional communicative activities contribute to the creation of a localised identity guided by the local. In contrast, the task of presenting identity at a large spatial scale remains an unenviable challenge thanks to the diverse embroidery of localised identities that are deeply embedded in the fabric and feeling of the local place, Castells finds that ‘data show time and again that the more the world becomes global, the more people feel local…people identify themselves primarily with their locality’ (2010 p.23).

Place-based context is paramount in shaping identity; it is essential that academics narrow their focus to the local-level, which transcends the power of larger scales in shaping identity. As creative and interpretative beings, we are subject to the realities of our surroundings, bound to everyday local life that roots our identity in a specific place.

2.2 The importance of local scale

A key issue within the discipline of human geography is how to manage the gap between broad theoretical assumptions and local understandings. In other words, how can general theory produced on a large-scale account for local scale variances? Place-based identity rooted in time and space, should be analysed within its own context and not based upon grand territorial understandings. Spatial scales can be crossed and interlinked to form general theory in such a manner whereby the amalgamation of local identities creates an image of regional identity and so forth for national identity. Consequently, the local becomes the crucial building block for understanding the relationship between identity and space.

‘It is widely held that citizens view the larger entity of the nation through the lens of smaller units and places that they know first-hand, as such, the local scale is fundamental to understanding the relationship between people and their nation’ (Appleton 2002 p.444).

The prominence of local-scale production of identity provides the basis for not only understanding place-based culture, place being used as an increasingly unifying concept in human geography (Cloke et al. 1991), but also the way actors make sense of the world, their world; ‘people identify themselves primarily with their locality. Territorial identity is a fundamental anchor of belonging that is not even lost in the rapid process of generalised urbanisation we are now experiencing’ (Castells 2010 p.22).

The local scale is a space that bound to face-to-face experiences and the manifestation of ever-changing relations of interdependence between social, political, economic and cultural processes operating at scales smaller and larger than the local (Appleton 2002 p.421). At these

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scales, belonging and meaning are intertwined with identification, occurring through processes whereby individuals become socialized as participants of a localised territoriality, subsequently internalising and performing shared group actions.

‘These practices are never abstract processes which take place somewhere above the heads of human beings, but unfailingly manifest themselves on local, regional or national scales and are in fact produced, contested and reproduced in the local everyday life of human beings’ (Paasi 1996 p.6).

The local social environs cannot be assumed separately to the objective macro-order of location and the subjective identity of a sense of place (Agnew 1987 p.28). Although issues remain over the apparent nature and distinction from general trends and norms, the cultural everyday life of individuals in becomes primarily organised relative to the ingrained characteristics of the identity of the local place in production.

Individual agency is crucially present; ‘human beings are to be regarded as creative agents, not as puppets stuck in deterministic social structures. The action of agents is contextual, not universal: space and time make a difference’ (Paasi 1996 p.29). Across various spatial dimensions and localities there exists a diverse pattern of expression relative to place-based identity and produced culture. ‘In specific contexts, identity can become a marker of people’s abiding in such a singular community, where the community defines an abode marking people’s ways of belonging within the structured mobilities of everyday life’ (Grossberg 1996 p.104-105), distancing themselves through their everyday practices from those who do not reside in ‘their’ space, marking the division between ‘we’ and ‘other’, ‘us’ and ‘them’; identification occurs by recognizing what one does not embody or represent. Localised identity, as Edensor notes, is undoubtedly formed within the ‘mundane choreographies, everyday knowledge and embodied approaches to quotidian problems’ (2002 p.91). These repetitive practices may appear ordinary or go unnoticed in the face of grand instances of nationalist or identity-based performances, however the discrete concentration of cultural assumptions must not be ignored (Carlson 1996 p.16). Chamberlain exemplifies this in her study on migrant identities:

‘perhaps it is precisely in the mundane that the culture of migration can be observed for it is with the everyday, within the family and the workplace, the home or the street that family values and cultural practices are transmitted, contested, transformed and where identities evolve’ (1999 p.260).

Language often marks the principal extreme expression of difference (Paasi 1996 p.47); it is the ultimate unifying yet divisive component of identity and represents a distinctive marker of belonging in everyday life. ‘Linguistic identification can be considered as one of the

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building blocks of an identity profile that consists of dimensions of language, political mobilization and self-perception’ (Mansvelt Beck 2005 p.1475). The seemingly mundane linguistic performance acts as a persistent reinforcement of identity that stretches beyond solely acoustic dimensions; its unrivalled presence serves as an intrinsic part of existence. Additionally, daily reminders of culture and heritage e.g. flags, monuments, cultural gastronomy, street symbolism, act as active agents creating sentimental connections to the collective identity of the territory. Tradition can be invented as well as reinvented in the manifestation of these localised practices and symbols as expectations (Hobsbawm 1983); ‘structures of expectations operate as a framework for social classification among inhabitants’ (Paasi 1996 p.36). Ultimately, everyday phenomena occurring at the local scale such as the practice of language and the presence of nationalist street symbolism can serve to incrementally yet significantly build identity, in what Michael Billig terms ‘banal nationalism’ (1995).

2.3 Banal nationalism

The performance of identity at the local-level can be directly related to the practices of banal nationalism, a construction of nationalism borne out of everyday cultural practices. Billig first coined the term in 1995 stating that, ‘daily, the nation is indicated or ‘flagged’ in the lives of its citizenry’ (p.6), for example, this can be observed in the sale of locally produced goods at a street market or flag-bearing in public spaces. These seemingly innocuous cultural, social and political place-based performances maintain the potential to incrementally mould a community’s identity in a particular fashion. Owing to the prominent utilisation of the street landscape as a political tool with the importance of first-hand experience in influencing identity, the local space has become a place of cultural significance for the individual and the community, whereby seemingly mundane practices and symbolism are emblematic of and influential to the production of identity. The everyday performances of banal nationalism are generally overlooked in literature in favour of ‘hot nationalism’ (Billig 1995), which are often seen as grand political events and actions. Consequently, emphasising these crucially important everyday phenomena associated with banal nationalism will form a distinctive focus of this thesis.

Phenomena at the everyday street level are vital in influencing the formation of a localised identity; illustrating the importance of understanding the local scale and how it can create a culturally heterogeneous landscape. Nevertheless, any significant diversity of culture and identity is increasingly hard to come in the modern age of incumbent globalisation.

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2.4 Impacts of globalisation

The all-encompassing force of globalisation maintains the ability to transform cultural identity throughout spatial and temporal dimensions. Across the world it has been associated with the diffusion of identity and practices that define cultural distinction, significantly impacting the fragile connections between geographical place and experience that form cultural identity.

‘Globalisation, so the story goes, has swept like a flood tide through the world’s diverse, cultures, destructing stable localities, displacing peoples, bringing a market-driven, ‘branded’ homogenisation of cultural experience, thus obliterating the differences between locality-defined cultures which had constituted our identities’ (Tomlinson 2003 p.269).

Nevertheless, the impact of globalisation upon cultural identity is in no way homogenous, for example, globalisation may influence virtually everywhere in the world, but individual subjects in urban localities experience its intensity far greater than those who reside in rural areas. The city-dweller may see localised habits as irrelevant in the face of globalised culture, as a result, the un-learning of aspects of one’s previous repertoire that are no longer appropriate may be practiced (Berry 1997 p.13). In contrast, occupants of a rural farmhouse may deem the ways of the global culture as out of reach, too foreign to everything they know from direct experience (Arnett 2002 p.778). Individuals may choose to reject globalisation in favour of local cultural practices they value, or could even adopt a hybrid identity that encompasses some values of their local identity, whilst still embracing aspects of the global culture.

A significant aspect of globalisation is the increasingly efficient movement of people throughout the world, not only for migratory or business purposes but also for leisure tourism, a growing global industry that can alter how culture and identity is displayed. The tourist is defined by Smith as, ‘a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing change’ (1989 p.1). The short-term vacationer is one who is eager to witness an unfamiliar identity and locate an authentic cultural situation; even if it may be represented in a symbolic manner that constitutes a form of reality. In recent years, the field of tourism studies has devoted an increasing focus to cultural authenticity in the way it is performed at the street level (Tang 2005, Santos and Yan 2008, Hoffstaeder 2008). Contemporary global forces of economic, information and population flow have manipulated the ways that cultures are expressed. Tourism in particular, aligned with the global expansion of capitalism has grown at a rapid pace; the booming industry opens up a large window of financial and symbolic opportunity to perform and exhibit cultural identity. Subsequently, it is

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suggestable that local actors, adopting capitalist methods over producing an authentic version of culture, alter traditional practices to cater for the tourist industry and maximise financial benefit. With this culturally dimming light in mind, ‘modern tourism is best understood in the context of the commodification process and contemporary consumer culture’ (Watson and Kopachevsky 1996 p.657).

Globalisation and tourism are two interlinking phenomena definitive of the modern interconnected world that threaten the cultural diversity of localised identity. Globalisation arrives with forces of capitalism and commercialisation that deem many traditional uneconomical aspects of culture as irrelevant, whilst a tourist’s desire to seek some form of cultural authenticity, misrepresented or not, can cloud the way culture or identity is expressed at the street level. Tourists yearn to experience cultural practices they are unfamiliar with, as is exhibited by the Basque identity.

2.5 Contextualizing Basque identity

The Basques represent some of the oldest permanent residents of Western Europe; they are truly ‘Native Europeans’, a frame that has fuelled much of the current debate over establishing a nation state (Ray and Bieter 2014 p.243). Traditionally, Basque populations deeply identify with their region, using language as a primary identifier.

Academic discourse has produced rather abstract notions with regard to discussions of identity and place in the Basque Country, which have typically been founded upon broad theoretical and conceptual perspectives; the often blurred and malleable nature of localised identity formations has undoubtedly contributed to this.

‘Local attachments against the anonymous standardisation of global culture; it reasserts local independence against the abstract and bureaucratic power of transnational agencies. The appeal of this Europe of the ‘Heimats’ – Basque, Lombard, Breton, Corsican and others – is to a more ‘authentic’ way of belonging’ (Morley and Robins 1995 p.20).

The ability of identity to transcend traditional boundaries and belie notions of homogenous nationalism makes it an intriguing yet challenging approach; this is especially true in the case of the Basque Country, notorious for its fractured and plural substance (Conversi 1997 p.236-240). The territory acts as a testament to the power of identity and difficulties to integrate Basque people into a democratic Spanish state, even despite the considerable effort of administrative decentralization conducted by Madrid in the last 30 years (Castells 2010 p.24).

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The Basque Country, like all territories, is a spatial construction, which is created through human actions and the geographical execution of power (Holt-Jensen 2001 p.1).

An array of scholars have devoted much attention in how best to conceptualise, contextualise and explain Basque nationalist identity; ‘its remarkable resilience over more than one century, changing discourses about Basqueness and forty decades of nationalist-inspired political violence have certainly contributed to this fascination’ (Mansvelt Beck 2010 p.143). It represents a tricky proposition to explain such a fractious collective as the Basque community; within their territorial identity resides an amalgamation of conflicting identities that are constructed on the street at an individual level. This justifies the focus of this thesis, which will aim to counter the collection of published works that have generally failed to recognise the everyday cultural practices of identity in the street landscape that can determine a form of territorial identity thanks to their ubiquitous presence in daily life. The academic and societal relevance of the report is underlined by this aforementioned literature gap; it is the hope that conclusions fuel an extensive understanding of these mundane, yet consistent forms of production and maintenance of Basque identity, which is such an intriguing and challenging point of analysis given its plurality and multiplicity. The following section 2.6 outlines the ways in which various authors have attempted to conceptualise Basque identity.

2.6 Basque identity

Outlining a clear territorial identity in the Basque Country remains a daunting task thanks to the recent sharp influx of non-Basque speakers, the growing influence of globalisation in the post-modern era and significant regional differences. Alas, the true Basque identity in contemporary political and spatial dimensions is one embroiled in multiplicity, division and complexity. The homogenous understanding of meaning and belonging in the world, much akin to the post-modern notions of national identity, paints but an imagined picture of the Basque community.

The leader of the early Basque nationalist movement, Sabino Arana, first produced a doctrine that placed an emphasis on race, custom and tradition as the core principals of the nation (Douglass 2002). A cadre of authors have attempted to locate the foundation of Basque identity in this nationalist origin, for example, Muro (2008) and Watson (2008) ground its presence in both national democratic and authoritarian regimes, whilst Lecours (2007) saw Basque identity as stemming from the unsuccessful formation of a Spanish nation-state, which triggered a reaction from a section of the Basque traditional elite. Concurrently, Diez Medrano

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(1995) understood that Basque nationalist identity represented the frustration of preindustrial Basque elites with the changes incurred from industrialisation and centralisation. Cocuera (2008) on the other hand, saw the roots of what has become the new nationalist ideology situated less in the eruption of the elites and more in the abolishment of state privileges. Evidently, there are ranges of theories regarding the origins of Basque identity of which elements of truth sustain them all.

There are many way of producing Basque identity that have been analysed in literature alongside the aforementioned formulations regarding their origins. Typically, non- or even moderate and radical nationalist Basque identities are presented in discourse to be at odds with one another in fierce competition; additionally, ‘above and beyond this social and political polarisation between Basque nationalists and non-Basque nationalists is the sociological reality of dual identities’ (Lecours 2007 p.167). The nationalist identity of the Basque Country is not internalised by all members of its community in the same fashion; contextual heterogeneity resides, identity after all represents a process of socialisation that can be constructed differently across spatial and temporal dimensions.

The politicized abertzale identity arises out of a sense of alienation on the one hand, and resentment against unfair exclusion, whether political, economic or social on the other (Scheff 1994 p.281); the term is used to describe those who adopt a Basque radical nationalist identity and can be associated with members who perform acts of ‘hot nationalism’. Abertzale is not naturally inherited; rather, it is constructed through performance, most notably in certain cases, in the exhibition of an observable punk identity The abertzale seeks to partake in the separatist struggle for an independent Basque nation aligned with its distinctive culture.

’not defined by birth but by performance: an abertzale is one who actively participates in the political struggle for an independent Basque nation with its own distinctive culture…You are not born abertzale, you make yourself one’ (MacClancy 1997 p.123).

On the opposite end of the political identity spectrum, a conservative production of Basque identity is also present. These passive individuals may still be responsible for Basque practices of banal nationalism in the everyday landscape, such as the use of the language or the selling of locally-produced goods, however they may not align themselves with Basque political ideals, particularly those desired by the radical abertzale. Furthermore, there may those who adopt a completely non-nationalist identity and favour the rule of the nation-state, these individuals likely choose their principals without any Basque cultural basis. In simpler terms,

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Basque political identities can be placed in one of three diverging groups: non-nationalists, moderate nationalists, and radical nationalists’ (Raento 1997 p.193).

Nationalist rhetoric is seen to substantially differ from daily cultural experiences and political practice (Mansvelt Beck 2008). However, a key finding from election results and research surveys is that there seems to be an indication of significant support for Basque nationalism, even despite the contemporary decay in cultural institutions that once supported Basque mobilisation; the rate of decline of electoral losses is slower than those associations that support their demands (Perez Agote 2008, Mansvelt Beck 2010). It is clear the diversification of a political environment that previously failed to reflect the social context in which Basque identity took shape does not automatically translate into political outcomes that perfectly reflect the present social context (Diez Medrano 1995 p.189). This disparity between the political and social contributes to the creation of internal conflict and frustration within the community, which may be evidenced by those who adopt a radical separatist identity.

Internal conflict within the Basque Country is also the result of varying degrees of the spatially bound exhibition of identity. For example, a Basque residing in Navarre, a region where the use of the Basque language is not considered a career asset nor a necessary ingredient of Navarrese identity, and where Basque nationalist parties have always been on the margins of regional politics will likely display a different linguistic and political identity to the individual that resides in the official Basque Country (Mansvelt Beck 2005 p.1464). Ultimately, identity can take many forms; in the Basque context this is especially true thanks to the diversity in spatial settings that influence the meaning and production of different interpretations of Basque identity

Despite there being little consensus in literature with regard to what being Basque means or what grounds people can define themselves as Basque (Oiaizabel and Oiaizabel 2005, Oiaizabel 2012), certain studies have shown that it is not only those that live and work in the Basque Country who are considered Basque, but also those who express the ‘will’ to be Basque that is the most important factor in considering oneself as really Basque (Linz 1986). ‘Basque identity is not merely as a result of living or being born in Euskadi or speaking Euskera’ (Grugel 1990 p.112), it transcends these restrictive confines in the form of desire, which has so infamously represented the birthplace of a separatist identity that Basque has become associated with.

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Ultimately, the aforementioned political alliances are transient over time and space, shifting between tradition/non-tradition, urban/rural, and influenced by the use of cultural practices and significantly, language.

2.7 The Basque language

The Basque spoken word, Euskera, is seen as a foremost marker of identity and representative of a nationalist language ideology, serving to envision and enact ties of language to identity, to aesthetics, to morality, and to epistemology (Woolard and Schieffelin 1994 p.55-56). The Basque native tongue is unique in that it is unbounded to any other Indo-European language; it defines their people and imparts exclusivity and strength in the distinction of their identity. It must be understood that language is more than just mere audibility; it represents a persistent presence as a street-level narrative that can also serve to significantly symbolise the identity of a community.

‘The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration. The linguistic landscape of a territory can serve two basic functions: an informational function and a symbolic function’ (Landry and Vourhis 1997 p.25).

The use of the Basque language and its presence in the linguistic landscape are not homogenous, local forces play a significant role in the commonality and nature of its production, the language itself taking on many varied forms. Local context is undoubtedly crucial in the understanding of the Basque native tongue, as has subsequently been theorised in published literature from sociolinguists (Fishman 1989), geolinguists (Aitchison and Carter 2000) and political geographers (Sack 1986, Agnew 1987).

The Basque Country is internally fragmented in a political, demographic and linguistic sense; disparities in regional linguistic policies act as a crucial divisive tool; for example, Mansvelt Beck found that Euskadi and Navarre, ‘have deployed different language policies reflected in a higher status of Basque in the public sphere in Euskadi compared to Navarre (2005 p.1461). On a municipal level, the contemporary linguistic complexion is represented in a detailed amalgamation of varying qualities of Basque speakers existing as cultural islands in a sea of Castilian hegemony – the heartland lost (Urla 1993 p.829). Nevertheless, language will always remain a crucial component in explaining and recognising Basque identity, serving as the key divisive instrument between those who speak Basque (‘us’) and those who do not (‘them’), Basque linguistic mobilisation being intertwined with political mobilisation. However, Basque identity is dependent on a number of factors that extend beyond linguistic

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mobility to include: an individual’s territorial attachment, ideology and origin…given the diversity of its population, different positions in these dimensions will shape degree of Basque identity (Peral 2013 p.65-66). The importance of locale in determining the configuration of socio-cultural and political attitudes linked to trends of identity has classified the Basque community into a range of locally produced micro-societies.

The locale’s principal point of communication with its community is the street and the everyday practices that occur in it, these practices may consequently exhibit forms of banal nationalism. Subsequently, the public space is of crucial importance that demands recognition in determining the nature of a localised Basque identity.

2.8 Localised Basque identity in the public space

Practical notions of Basque identity from primary research can be utilised to identify concepts and make a reference to any gaps in literature. The focus of explaining instances and motivations of Basque conflict and violence by explicitly emphasising issues of radical nationalist rhetoric dominates Basque identity literature. In contrast, the regular, mundane and daily performances, which may be in the form of banal nationalism, have been generally ignored by academics. Consequently, it is vital to recognise the unceasing identity-forming phenomena that can be classified as banal nationalism occurring in the local cultural street landscape.

The use of the Basque language is viewed as a principal form of banal nationalism, as Zabalo concludes, ‘the main objective of (Basque) nationalism is linguistic recovery (2008 p.803). The use of language can be used as a nation-building exercise that creates hegemonic structures of power and authority, which are practiced in the everyday environment (Azaryahu 1996 p.312). Forces that maintain the Basque territorial identity can be separated into ‘hard power’ and ‘soft power’ (Garcia 2012), the latter being the focus of this investigation. Soft power is exhibited principally in terms of, public communication (media), political action (display and use of public institutions) and public diplomacy (gastronomy, sports, arts, letters) (Garcia 2012 p.218). However, despite the effectiveness of these types of identity reinforcement, they have largely been ignored in academic literature apart from one significant piece study produced by Linstroth, whom referenced the importance of creating a Basque ‘homeland’ identity to provide the community with a ‘space’ to occupy (2002).

Basque towns on the peripheries of the major urban conurbations such as Bilbao and San Sebastián have, both in a traditional and contemporary sense represented the stalwarts of

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Basque language and cultural space. It is no coincidence that radicalism is most often located within these communities that transport a local identity through generation to generation. In the Basque case, social control is especially harsh in the smaller settlements that are dominated by radical nationalists, where dissident behaviour hardly occurs as a consequence of fear (Mansvelt Beck 2005 p.1462).

The space that forms the dictum of the performance of local conduct within these towns and throughout the Basque Country has routinely been the everyday street landscape, used as an instrument of political, social and cultural mobility. Subsequently, the local public space becomes an active forum for confrontation, communication and mobilisation, where people’s lives are lived, economic interests are defined, information from local and extra-local sources is interpreted and political discussions are continued (Agnew 1984 p.192). As such, increasing focus should be devoted to street-level activities occurring within the public space of a locality that may be in the form of banal nationalistic processes. Specifically, the street is used as a non-directed space and a tool used in alternative forms of communication to construct and maintain Basque identity, its prominence throughout the territory, particularly in urban neighbourhoods such as San Sebastian, ‘suggests a conscious strategy and a detailed local knowledge of the social valuation of space’ (Raento 1997 p.197). The Basque community’s own internal pluralism has its effect on local interpretation and prevalence of street mobilisation; one cannot ignore the correlation between the presence of political graffiti and the exhibition of a radical Basque identity. This contemporary form of street symbolism can be viewed as an expressive aftershock of the ETA ceasefire to efficiently maintain a non-violent yet radical presence in the everyday lives of the desired audience. Contemporary Basque political resistance, seems guided by a visual paradigm, so much so that looking, seeing, and knowing have become perilously intertwined (Jenks 1995 p.1). This is evidenced throughout the Basque populated localities as the symbolic identity of the public domain is exhibited through the mediums of graffiti, flags, banners and slogans, furthermore, ‘repeatedly, the Spanish place names of the signs are erased with black or red paint to highlight their Basque counterparts’ (Raento and Watson 2000 p.727). For the radical Basque population, ‘the staring optics of humankind act as the final arbiters of truth, beauty, desire and goodness’ (Jenks 1995 p.12).

Raento and Watson significantly elucidate that Basque actors have grown tired of the continued argument with Madrid and measures of political violence, as a result the struggle has shifted from being primarily a ‘national’ matter, towards a more local level, thus emphasising the regional and political rivalries with the historical territory (2000 p.731-732). Political mobilisation has become place-specific reflecting local history and organisation, demonstrations and graffiti campaigns for examplemare expressions of a sense of place, of a

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‘truth’ as the radical nationalists see it, and of solidarity, group coherence and loyalty to ‘us’ and to ‘our cause’ (Raento 1997 p.202). At a local level, these expressions create and maintain identity, offering a sense of empowerment and mobilisation for people to either partake in the political struggle or conduct their daily lives in a certain manner that adopts the cultural, social and political Basque identity. Close to the street-level, radical bars associated with a Basque punk identity have also become central locations for information:

‘radical bars are spaces where the joblessness and ‘empty’ time of unemployed youths is inflected with working-class habits; where youth style is created and performed, where cultural and political activism is located; and where Basque identity is produced and sometimes questioned’ (Kasmir 2002 p.61).

These bars also serve as a crucial meeting point for cuadrillas, a group of friends of a similar age and gender from the local community that are socially grouped together from birth. ‘Bar-going is ritualized by cuadrillas that make a round of the bars …Association, rather than drunkenness, motivates their bar-going’ (Kasmir 2002 p.51). Cuadrillas are prevalent throughout the Basque communities, bringing traditional practices of community into the modern age

The Basque identity is one that traditionally embraces both the pre-industrial and the contemporary urban experience: language, folklore, and ethnic memory, but also rock and football (McNeill 2000 p.488). However rural areas also often display robust forms of Basque identity founded upon the celebration of the natural landscape and tradition of agriculture and livestock harvesting, in coastal areas this elicited in a strong fishing and seafaring heritage. Clearly, the performance of this Basque identity is characterised by the memory of historical culture, a return to their ancestry. The symbolic remembrance of Basque identity is able to incorporate the best of both worlds, living in modern times whilst choosing the most appealing aspects of traditional Basque culture.

In this age of globalisation, modernisation and high tourism, Basque identity can also be ‘synthetically’ produced for economic benefits. The intriguing Basque culture is a magnet for tourists who seek to experience temporary change in their environment; consequently, it can prove difficult to distinguish between cultural authenticity and cultural commodification. Localised identity and cultural phenomena in the everyday street landscape can be shaped according to the needs of consumers and free-spending tourists.

This theoretical framework has clearly and concisely reviewed academic discourse surrounding the key geographical term of identity. It has then continued to assess the nature of

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identity in the Basque Country and the way it is contextually produced at the local everyday scale. Ultimately, there is no homogeneity in Basque identity, the way it is exhibited culturally, politically and even linguistically is highly heterogeneous; these territorial discrepancies make it such a challenging and intriguing point of analysis. In order to address the complexities and variances in localised Basque identity, a number of core concepts can be drawn out of academic discourse to guide the impending research.

2.9 Core concepts

The preceding theoretical framework regarding the formation of Basque identity has produced a number of interlinking core concepts in the broad field of human geography, which will be used in the research and analysis of this thesis to address the aim.

Space: in the empirical sense, ‘refers to the process whereby the mundane fabric of

daily life is constructed’ (Thrift 2003 p.105); explaining the spatial organisation of these constructions related to territorial identity is crucially important in the context of this research.

Place: ‘incarnates the experiences and aspirations of people. Place is not only a fact to

be explained in the broader frame of space, but also a reality to be clarified and understood from the perspectives of the people who have given it meaning’ (Tuan 1979 p.387); as such it is related to formations of contextual identity within a certain territory.

Territory: can loosely be considered as land that operates as a means of

communication, co-operation and exchange. ‘As the place where people live, territory provides an important component of “group identity” and becomes endowed with extraordinary symbolic importance to people’ (Starr 2005 p.392). Territory is not bound to any particular scale; rather, it is seen as an interpretative concept.

Scale: refers to how translations of space are understood, temporal and thematic

manifestations of scale will also be referenced throughout the research. Specifically, this thesis will be concerned with the local; aiming to show how actions and phenomena can manifest into the formation of a place-based identity. ‘Observers of local processes see areas in mosaic being transcended by nodes in networks, as individual contact networks become less dominated by geographical proximity’ (Wilbanks 2007 p.279); it will be interesting to see if Basque identity embodies this connectedness.

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Identity: ‘is people’s source of meaning and experience’ (Castells 1995 p.6); and can

define territorial structure through socio-cultural processes. The force of identity is present in all societies, transcending boundary and scale; ‘we know of no people without names, nor languages or cultures in which some manner of distinctions between self and other, we and they, are not made’ (Calhoun 1994 p.9-10).

Culture: is the sum of learned behaviour patterns and norms that combine to form a

territorial identity within a particular spatial zone. ‘Culture refers to the history and norms and values that members believe…and the meanings organisational members share about the organisation’s imperative’ (Schneider and Rentsch 1987 p.7).

Territorial identity: Space is the representation of human action enacted by a populace

that culturally takes possession of a predefined spatial sphere, practices homogenise within this space creating a common group of people with clear definitions of identity and territory; ‘to be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognised need of the human soul’ (Weil 1987 p.41). The embedding of social action forms the identity that cultural binds a person to the space where their daily lives are lived; the everyday street landscape

Street landscape: implies a space where cultural activities and everyday practices take

place. The local street is used as a medium of political, cultural and social expression; the landscape representing a general overview of this expressions. The term ‘cultural street landscape’ will be used frequently during this report to describe the broad make-up of the local setting where everyday phenomena symbolic of identity, such as the performance of language, are observed.

Linguistic landscape: refers to ‘the language of public road signs, advertising

billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration’ (Landry and Vourhis 1997 p.25). Subsequently due to its consistent presence in the everyday street landscape, language can be seen as a crucially important in tool in influencing identity and is thus representative of a form of banal nationalism.

Chapter 2 has provided the theoretical framework regarding Basque identity and produced a number of core concepts to drive the focus of this thesis and guide research. Chapter 3 will outline the methodology used to conduct this research in a manner that will incorporate these concepts and contribute to the aforementioned discourse surrounding identity in the Basque Country.

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3. METHODOLOGY

This main aim of this thesis is to identify cultural and political phenomena in the everyday street landscape of the Basque Country that contribute to the formation of a localised identity, additionally providing explanations for any relationship across spatial contexts. The following methodology outlines and justifies the approaches employed to conduct this research.

3.1 Secondary data analysis

Before the commencement of data collection, the production of a theoretical framework founded upon review of academic discourse was deemed appropriate to provide the building blocks of knowledge regarding the broad notion of identity and its relationship with the locale. Furthermore, the analysis of secondary sources supplied the construction of core concepts used to formulate research questions and drive research. In addition to the broad understanding gained upon review of general conceptual theory, specific academic study that focused upon the Basque Country was analysed to inform the researcher about the contextual situation and outline the ‘lay of the land’ in terms of what has or has not been published. ‘After all, one needs to know what research exists and how others have treated a particular topic so one can determine what additional research is needed’ (Bowen 2005 p. 210). Much of the secondary literature, especially that which concerned the Basque Country, employed the use of primary data collection methods to analyse the formation of this thesis’s own methodology. Valued contextual information relating to geography, history, politics and society of the Basque Country in published literature was reviewed in order to guide the research of this thesis and select localities for analysis. For example, the work of Raento and Watson (2000) largely informed and justified the selection of Guernica as a site of primary data collection.

Significantly, the construction of a theoretical framework allowed for the identification of any gaps when reviewing published literature related to the core concepts and field of study. This led to the conclusion that very little empirical research had been conducted regarding everyday phenomena occurring in the cultural street landscape and their impact upon localised identity. Much of the published literature was concerned with striking political events or instances of radical violence. Subsequently, a clear gap in literature analysing the seemingly mundane practices or symbolism in the street landscape emerged.

A theoretical framework provided the basis of the primary research, which could then be tested against contextual findings to identify if it goes against, supports or possibly even has

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the power to shape existing theory. Silverman (1993) in particular, has argued that in more recent times qualitative researchers have become increasingly interested in the testing of theories and that this is a reflection of the growing maturity of the strategy (Bryman 2012 p.387). Ultimately, the findings from the streets and localised identity of the Basque Country symbolise real-world means to examine existing theory of cultural phenomena and its relationship with identity; to guide this analysis an appropriate research design was outlined.

3.2 Research Design

A case study design with comparative elements was employed to address the aim of the thesis, which allowed for the deep analysis and comparison of Basque identity within specific localities. The reasoning behind the selection of the case study design was that without contextual reference to the characteristics of a place, findings concerning the relationship between phenomena in the cultural landscape and localised identity could not be produced. This research is concerned with real-world local context that is not necessarily bounded to theory, sites of analysis should be analysed within their own right. This in-depth method of study allowed for the testing of theoretical models to what is real, in the case of this research, analysing the local context of specific sites in the Basque Country.

The localities referenced in the research question, San Sebastian, Guernica, Hernani and the Baztán Valley require comparative analysis to understand how their individual characteristics affect localised identity in a specific manner. Occurring phenomena and localised identity will then be compared in order to reflect upon similarities and differences across spatial localities within the Basque Country; we can understand social phenomena better when they are compared in relation to two or more meaningfully contrasting cases or situations (Bryman 2012 p.72).

3.3 Site Selection

Four sites were identified to provide a comparable localised picture of the relationship between the cultural street landscape and Basque identity. The urban municipality of San Sebastian, situated in Gipzukoa within the provincial Basque Country was chosen as a site of analysis primarily because of its significance as a location of historical political struggle and association with Basque politics. Its selection is further justified by the work of Mansvelt Beck who states; ‘urban centres play diverse roles in the imagined territoriality of Euskal Herria’ (2006 p.519). Research in San Sebastian took place over a period of one week in which four

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districts across the city were analysed: Parte Vieja, Centro Romántico, Amara, and Antiguo. These urban neighbourhoods were selected to provide an accurate exhibition of the variance in localised identity in the city. Identifying one localised identity of an urban conglomeration would be a restrictive decision, ignoring the spatial amalgamation of backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures that so often characterise the contemporary European city. In identifying varying neighbourhoods in San Sebastian, the primary research was able to show the diverse factors that affect local identity in specific manners. A contemporary urban environment such as San Sebastian also provided the ideal grounds with which to test the durability of the Basque cultural landscape and the identity it produced with the encompassing force of globalisation.

The town of Guernica was also identified as a site of analysis, located in Biscay in the provincial Basque Country; it is labelled as the ‘embodiment of the life’ of Basque history and culture (Tuan 1975 p.240). Guernica was envisioned to represent a banner of strong Basque identity; ‘for nationalists, the town, its history, and its monuments are the sacred core of Basque identity and a focus of political resistance against the Spanish state’ (Raento and Watson 2000 p.708). Hernani was also identified as a locality ripe for comparable investigation to not only Guernica, being a similarly small town, but also to the other sites of study. Situated in close proximity to San Sebastian, Hernani was deemed to be a worthy point of analysis thanks to its history of oppression, claims of links to ETA and strong politicized identity (Rodriguez 2007).

Finally, the site of the Baztán Valley situated in provincial Navarre was identified because of its quintessentially Basque culture and deep-rooted forms of identity and tradition. The valley is marketed by hiking and tourism websites as follows: ‘Experience the life, landscapes, language and food of the Basque Pyrenees’ (Pyrenean Experience 2015). The industry of agriculture dominates the Baztán’s rural landscape and has served to impart a rural identity that presents a different, yet highly relevant contextual point of comparison compared to other sites. This identity forms an iconic image of Basque culture: one of the founders of Basque nationalism, Sabino Arana, identified in the Basque farmer the ‘essence of Basqueness’ (Ray and Bieter 2015 p.244).

The four deeply contextually contrasting locations of San Sebastian, Guernica, Hernani and the Baztán Valley were selected on the basis of secondary research, which led to the identification of specific places that maintain a sense of Basqueness in their local cultural landscape. Significant place-based relations could be observed as a result of the selection of these sites, for example, urban to rural and the provincial Basque Country locations to the Navarre site of the Baztán Valley. Ultimately, each site was chosen based upon their

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comparative contextual settings, which would hopefully thus elicit varying forms of localised identity in the everyday street landscape as a result of differences in the following variables.

3.4 Variables

Cultural and political phenomena in the everyday landscape that can be theorised to impart some form of localised Basque identity will represent the variables of study. These encompass a range of practices and instances that are seen as innocuous representations at the street-level, however they maintain a significant cumulative everyday influence upon localised identity. Table 3.1 below, first presents the contextual operationalization of the site variables (units of analysis).

Table 3.1: Contextual operationalization of variables

Place-based concepts

Settlement type

Site Variable

Localised identity

Cultural street landscape

Urban – Basque County

San Sebastián

(Parte Vieja, Centro Romántico, Amara, Antiguo)

Town – Basque Country

Hernani

Town – Basque Country

Guernica

Rural - Navarre

Baztán Valley

Table 3.1 displays the contextual operationalization of site variables. The place-based concepts of localised identity and the cultural street landscape were identified as objects of comparison at each site variable. Choice of settlement type determined the site variable, varying from urban-town-rural and Basque Country-Navarre to compare their place-based concepts and then relate this to the variance of setting. Consequently, San Sebastian and principally its neighbourhoods of Parte Vieja, Centro Romántico, Amara and Antiguo were selected. Hernani and Guernica were chosen as Basque Country towns, although both present

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very different contextual settings. Finally, the Baztán Valley was selected to represent a rural area in Navarre. At each site, significant variables contributing to a localised identity in the place-based cultural street landscape were recognised, as displayed in Table 3.2 below.

Table 3.2: Variables of identity in place-based cultural street landscape

Variables Question/Measurement

Context What is the history, geographical and political place-based context?

Language What is the commonality of the Basque language?

Commerce

What is the presence of Basque branded products/ traditional gastronomy?

Local or industrial stores/brands?

Streets What language are road names and street signs?

Street symbolism

Presence of national and political flags?

What politicized graffiti and street symbolism is present?

Style of population What trends in local community fashion/style?

Table 3.2 shows the variables in the everyday cultural street landscape that influence localised identity at each site of analysis. Additionally, specific questions relating to the variables were formulated in order to measure their presence at each locality. The contextual setting was deemed a crucial variable in determining the nature of localised identity and the cultural street landscape. The history, geography and political context of a place are key factors that influence phenomena occurring within that locality, for example, history shapes tradition, geography alters the way the land is used and can impact tourism, whilst political power can affect language policy.

The Basque language was deemed an appropriate variable given the immediate notion of identity it provides; ‘in contrast to early Basque nationalism with its focus on bloodlines, the

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contemporary conceptualisation of Basqueness is centred on language and culture’ (Mansvelt Beck 2006 p.514). Language on road signs, public services and titles of commercial stores could be observed as facilitating the encouragement of the use of the Basque language for example.

Commerce, specifically Basque branded products and gastronomy, could also be observed to be supporting a localised identity, as by selling locally produced goods whose origins are within the Basque Country, marked via a Eusko label ‘K’, merchandisers may be rejecting national and industrial products. Additionally, the prominence of local services over global corporations and brands upon the street landscape was also seen to exhibit a form of localised cultural identity.

Road signs also represented a useful variable of analysis, particularly the meaning of certain names that so often served as a daily reminder of local political history, furthermore, whether the signage was displayed in Basque or Spanish was seen to facilitate or hinder the preservation of euskera respectively, thus imparting a form of linguistic identity.

Street symbolism was particularly common throughout the Basque Country, often politicized in its nature and parading a linguistic identity, it was seen to impose or exhibit a form of Basque politicized nationalism. It presents a highly localised exploitation of the cultural street landscape for political purposes, suggesting a conscious strategy and a detailed local knowledge of the social valuation of space (Goheen 1993 p.129). National flags such as the ikurrina and those calling for the amnesty of Basque political prisoners could also be observed to parade a strong Basque identity.

The aesthetic style of the community was analysed to see if they adopted an ‘alternative’ punk identity renown for being associated with Basqueness, thus exhibiting a form of banal nationalism in everyday fashion choices. At the other end of the spectrum in rural farm areas, the ‘baserritarrak’ (peasant farmers) were also easy to identify,

‘with their heavy-soled leather shoes that laced up almost to the knees. This identity formed an iconic image in Basque culture: one of the founders of Basque nationalism, Sabino Arana, identified in the Basque farmer the essence of Basqueness’ (Ray and Bieter 2015 p.244).

Subsequently, community style trends can clearly be associated with a localised identity and Basqueness, which thus justifies their inclusion as a variable in the place-based cultural

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street landscape. This, and all the other aforementioned variables recorded at each site of analysis were measured using an appropriate method of primary data collection.

3.5 Primary data collection

The principal method of research was a transient observational study that allowed for extensive field notes and photography to be recorded. This technique, a form of the ever-expanding field of ethnography permitted for the constant collection of data at the street-level. The method accounted for an open-ended emergent process of learning experiences regarding the meaning of phenomena related to the localised Basque identity; ‘ethnography is not a rigid investigator control experiment, but in the attempt to achieve the highest emic validity possible, ethnography is rather, a process of discovery, making inferences, and continuing inquiry’ (Whitehead 2005 p.6).

An intense transient observation of the location of study was conducted, which included recording in a diary of field notes the substantial quantities of variables experienced. These were in the form of either jotted or mental notes, which were useful due to the transient nature of study and time constraints. The jotted notes entailed the recording of ‘little phrases, quotes, key words, and the like’ (Lofland and Lofland 1995 p.90). Consequently, the amount of data collected in a very short space of time was vast, as such; an extensive quantity of variables could be recorded. This form of note taking led to the production of a descriptive and comparative analysis of a creative and realist nature, inspiring imaginative interpretation in linking cultural phenomena of the street landscape to localised identity.

Extensive primary research was also conducted via the form of visual geography, specifically photography. This method was employed as an aide memoire in the course of fieldwork, in which the images essentially become components of the ethnographer’s field notes (Bryman 2012 p.457), additionally the photographs were used alongside the descriptive analysis to aid narrative explanation.

Ultimately, the transient observational form of ethnography stimulated the development of understanding of local context and culture, which are crucial units of research concerning the formation of localised identity in the street landscape. This understanding was then tested against pre-existing academic discourse regarding the formation of identity not only in the Basque Country, but also in its broad general field. Unfortunately at times, the resulting

Basque identity : fractured, divided, localised

Graduate School of Social Sciences (GSSS)