“I belong to a universe in which (Euskera) was the dominant language. What matters to me is the language, which is something as human as walking …it’s what helps us endure.”

BasqueBasque - PE
Written by Blog Post Author

Bernardo Atxaga (bare-nahr-doh aht-chah-gah)

author

IMAGE SOURCE: “The Basque writer confronts somebody else's question: Why do you write in such a small language?” Blog post. euskalkultura.eus. 22 Jun 2012. | TEXT SOURCE: David Gardner. “Basque revival widens Spanish divide.” Washington Post. 19 Oct. 2012.

IMAGE SOURCE: “The Basque writer confronts somebody else's question: Why do you write in such a small language?” Blog post. euskalkultura.eus. 22 Jun 2012. | TEXT SOURCE: David Gardner. “Basque revival widens Spanish divide.” Washington Post. 19 Oct. 2012.

QUOTE CONTEXT: “Atxaga’s books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, but he will always write in Euskera.”

QUOTE QUESTION: What helps your People endure?

IMAGE CONTEXT: “Opening the XV Forum for Iberian Studies at Oxford University with a talk where he introduced general reflections on the Basque Country, its language, and its literature.”

IMAGE QUESTION: What do your hands have to say?

MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote is from a newspaper article. The photo is from a blog post. 

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How wide a reach do you want your words to have?

LEARN ABOUT THE BASQUES: https://www.eke.eus/en/basque-cultural-institute/about-us

DOWNLOAD THE BASQUE SLIDE DECK FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES:

View Slides
Blog Post Author
Previous

“I used to be at home with my mother and my aunts...in the kitchen. There I learned to listen to stories, stories of the sea, war, love... Those women taught me storytelling. ”
Next

“For the Basque language the focus is on unity or “we.” It’s about “our hand” or “our land.” It’s “our.” It’s not “I” or “mine.” It’s “we” or “our” because it’s so much based on survival.”