Basque nationalism and nostalgia
Im at it again on this history student grind, but here's another super interesting case study that I started working on after our pub meet on Friday:
Nostalgia and Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is one of the most interesting case studies with which to analyse the impact of nostalgia on a nationalist movement. Very few other regions in Western Europe have a nationalist movement that yearns for the past more intensively than the Basque one. Whether it is a cry for a diluting ethnicity, long-vanished medieval kingdoms or a millenarian independence, nowhere is the mythical component more important than in the Basque case.
Indeed, the nostalgic act of remembering the glorious national past can be observed in Basque nationalism from its inception.
A brief outline
As a political movement, Basque nationalism was born in Bilbao, the capital of Biscay, in 1895. To the delight of modernists, the emergence of the Basque nationalist movement coincided with a rapid process of industrialisation when both the new industrial bourgeoisie and the old rural classes struggled to come to terms with the intense socio-economic transformation, particularly the arrival of large numbers of immigrants. The shape and content of Basque nationalism owes a great deal to its founder, Sabino Arana y Goiri (1865–1903), who reacted to modernisation by creating the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), an organisation that advocated a combination of patriotic ideal with Carlist confessionalism and foralist literature. The core elements of Arana’s nationalism were religion, race and the Fueros (local statutes and charters) summoned by the nationalist motto God and Old Laws (Jaungoikoa eta Legezarra).
According to Arana’s interpretation, the Basques were a distinct people because of ‘their different race, language, laws and history’ and wanted to rebuild this shared sense of self. This is inherently a nostalgic lens on the nation's historical identity. Nostalgia is what entrenches people in such a passionate collective movement to reestablish identity. Nostalgia is what speaks to people on a deeper level than surface politics. Because of this, Basque nationalism can be seen as an excellent example of the present political being ‘a nostalgic re-assertion of ancient values.
Posted by Kat
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| The symbolism of the national flag is huge in this image, in terms of the politics of cultural identity. |
Nostalgia and Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is one of the most interesting case studies with which to analyse the impact of nostalgia on a nationalist movement. Very few other regions in Western Europe have a nationalist movement that yearns for the past more intensively than the Basque one. Whether it is a cry for a diluting ethnicity, long-vanished medieval kingdoms or a millenarian independence, nowhere is the mythical component more important than in the Basque case.
Indeed, the nostalgic act of remembering the glorious national past can be observed in Basque nationalism from its inception.
A brief outline
As a political movement, Basque nationalism was born in Bilbao, the capital of Biscay, in 1895. To the delight of modernists, the emergence of the Basque nationalist movement coincided with a rapid process of industrialisation when both the new industrial bourgeoisie and the old rural classes struggled to come to terms with the intense socio-economic transformation, particularly the arrival of large numbers of immigrants. The shape and content of Basque nationalism owes a great deal to its founder, Sabino Arana y Goiri (1865–1903), who reacted to modernisation by creating the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), an organisation that advocated a combination of patriotic ideal with Carlist confessionalism and foralist literature. The core elements of Arana’s nationalism were religion, race and the Fueros (local statutes and charters) summoned by the nationalist motto God and Old Laws (Jaungoikoa eta Legezarra).
According to Arana’s interpretation, the Basques were a distinct people because of ‘their different race, language, laws and history’ and wanted to rebuild this shared sense of self. This is inherently a nostalgic lens on the nation's historical identity. Nostalgia is what entrenches people in such a passionate collective movement to reestablish identity. Nostalgia is what speaks to people on a deeper level than surface politics. Because of this, Basque nationalism can be seen as an excellent example of the present political being ‘a nostalgic re-assertion of ancient values.
Posted by Kat
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