Language or race?

:
the choice of core values in
the development of Catalan and
Basque nationalisms
Daniele Conversi
Abstract
Using the concept of core values, this article sets forth a comparison
between Catalan and Basque nationalisms. It uses the declarations on
language made by the main leaders and intellectuals of the respective
nationalist movements. While Catalan nationalism has given paramount
importance to language since its inception, the Basque movement was
beleaguered by an overall ambiguity and fluctuating attitude over the
core values to be promoted. This ambiguity is reflected in the profound
changes to be witnessed in Basque nationalism from its beginning to the
present day.
The article claims that existing anthropological and cultural precondi-
tions can affect political developments. Notably, since ethnic languages
play such an important role in most ethnonationalist movements, their
vitality can influence political outcomes.
Furthermore, ethnic languages rather than other values (such as race
or religion) offer better prospects for peaceful and successful mobiliza-
tion in democratic states if these languages are spoken - or at least
understood - by sizeable proportions of the population. Otherwise,
nationalist movements will encounter more difficulty in finding a suitable
alternative means of political mobilization. Language has a more
inclusive character, inasmuch as it is not used as a barrier to prevent the
integration of outsiders.
Today, language is becoming a core value in the Basque Country too.
This is to be explained by recent changes in Basque society. In
particular, after the isolationist reaction against the first wave of
immigrants at the end of the last century, increased immigration from
southern Spain has made it imperative that there be a change from
ascriptive criteria of national membership to non-ascriptive ones.
Notwithstanding an initial reluctance on the part of both policy makers
and social scientists to acknowledge the fact, it seems that ethnic
Ethnic and Racial Studies Volume 13 Number 1 January 1990
Routledge 1990 0141-9870/90/1301-0050 $3/1
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 51
movements are finally starting to be considered a vital part of the
political panorama of the contemporary world. After the unexpected
ethnic revival that began in the late sixties,l new claims advanced by
stateless nations are again hitting the headlines, giving a renewed
prominence to ethnic conflicts in the Third World and especially the
Eastern Bloc. As is well known, a central feature of ethnonationalist
claims is their focus on requests for cultural autonomy. However, the
definition of ethnic/national culture varies considerably among (and
within) the different movements, although most of them tend to
emphasize language as a main issue and concern.
This article considers the effect of the choice of a particular symbolic
element or core value on the developments of ethnonationalist
movements. The case-study will be a comparison between two
movements that have been among the most successful in achieving
their goal of cultural and political autonomy: those operating in
Catalonia and in Euskadi (Basque Country).
The key arguments are as follows. First, language has been an
important value for both movements. Second, while the diffusion and
liveliness of Catalan have made it a core element around which the
nationalist movement could grow and develop, the poor diffusion of
Euskara (the Basque language) prompted Basque nationalist intellec-
tuals and intelligentsia to overlook the language, particularly in the
earliest phase of the movement. Third, while Basque nationalism has
historically been characterized by an overall pattern of indefiniteness
and lack of continuity in the choice of its core values, Catalan
nationalists have been steadfast in fostering language as a key element
of their struggle. Fourth, the historical condition of the Basque
Country
led race to be the core element chosen in the first nationalist
formulations, those of Sabino Arana. Recently, however, the import-
ance of language has dramatically increased in the Basque Country. A
major reason for this shift is the unsustainability of the idea of race as
a core value after the massive arrival of Southern Spanish immigrants.
There is now an attempt being made to mould a new Basque identity
based on non-ascriptive criteria.
Core values or key symbols
Every ethnic group confers particular importance on a specific element
of its own culture. This stress is subject to change, especially in
contexts of inter-cultural contacts and group intercommunication.
According to Smolicz (1979; 1981; 1984; 1988), there are elements that
appear more apt than others in order to epitomize the intimate essence
of a culture. They therefore become core values, 'pivots around which
the whole social and identificational system of the group is organized'.
They form 'the heartland of a group's culture and act as identifying
52 Daniele Conversi
values that are symbolic of the group and its membership . . . .
Removal of such pivots, through enforced "modernization" or
dominant assimilation, would result in the entire edifice crumbling to
pieces' (Smolicz 1988, p. 394). Different words have been used by
other scholars in order to define the same concept. Thus, Ortner's key
symbols describe those 'key elements which, in an ill-defined way, are
crucial to [the group's] distinctive organization' (Ortner 1973, p. 132).2
Other terms used in the anthropological literature include focal values
(Albert 1956), dominant values (Du Bois 1955), or themes (Cohen 1948)
In his comparative studies on immigrant ethnic groups in Australia,
Smolicz has observed how each group tends to emphasize a peculiar
aspect of its own cultural tradition that is held to .be of
importance. Such an element can vary from commumty to.
In some of them it is the religion that is manifested as a dlfferentlatmg
factor (Smolicz cites the Irish, Arab, Malay and Polish examples);3 in
other groups this role is assumed by the family (Italians and, I should
add, secular Jews); in yet others it is the race (Chinese).4 The most
universal core value in the contemporary world, however, is language.
It is of basic importance among all literate groups, where it is
occasionally superseded by other elements according to a particular
historical or political situation and to their relation with dominant or
other groups. The significance of language is also heightened among
those groups whose sacred texts are written in langu.age.
However, in these cases religion often assumes the pnonty weIght,
precisely because it is a religion written and codified in sacred
5
This perspective underlies the situational and historically determmed
character of each core value. Periods of oppression or foreign
domination are often those in which core values are consolidated. If a
particular aspect of one's own culture, especially if it is. a!ready
perceived as important, undergoes some process of proscnptlon or
forced marginalization, then the affections and the attention of the
community coagulate with particular energy around it. An example is
the Polish case (Smolicz 1981). In Poland, the core value had
essentially been language until the Second World War. Then it became
religion, for the very reason that it was the aspect of Polish identity
that had been put under particular restrictions. The theory of core
values has been applied to other minorities, also in European lands. It
can be fully applied to my case-studies. Regarding the Catalan case,
we shall see both that language is a core value in all Catalan public life,
and that its political importance has been strengthened as a
consequence of repression.
The cultural roots of nationalism
In Catalonia the cultural movement of the (= Renaissance)
provided an essential basis for the subsequent spread of nationalism.
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 53
Its beginning as a local literary movement during the 1830s and 1840s
was slow. The jocs florals, ancient poetry contests, were revived in
1859 and became the main focus for the subsequent cultural revival.
From that moment on, Catalan literature began to blossom, whilst its
outstanding epic, lyric and dramatic poets were in the vanguard of
Spanish culture at the turn of the century. The success of the
and the rich output which Catalan literature has produced
ever since,6 constitute a solid base upon which political nationalism
could draw for legitimacy.
In the Basque case we have a much more modest precedent: the
Euskera Association (1877-83), founded in Pamplona by Navarrese
intellectuals in order to preserve the language, which was then
experiencing a dramatic decline. The Association's estimated member-
ship of 300 to 400, with a minimal popular influence, seems
insignificant in comparison with the great manifestations of the Catalan
However, it assembled an aggregation of people of high
standing: researchers, professors, liberals, priests, that is, the same
kind of people who later would be prominent within a Basque
nationalist movement (Letamendia 1987, p. 58). The relatively lower
success of the Basque revivalists/ in comparison with the Catalan
can be ascribed to numerous factors, but certainly the
most important is the scarce diffusion of Euskara, coupled with a low
language loyalty8 on the part of the upper classes, and with diffuse
diglossic
9
habits among the overall population.
These precedents had a decisive influence on the building of the
platforms of the two nationalist movements. Indeed, once these were
established as political movements, they had to rely on an already pre-
existing definition of what the essence of the nation should be. This
work should have already been completed by the cultural revivalists
who preceded the political nationalists. The evolution of the latter will
also depend, in turn, on which aspects of the national culture have
been selected as central values. 10
The Catalan model
The example of Catalonia is paradigmatic. Not only have Catalan
intrinsically tied their struggle to the destinies of democracy
m the whole of Spain, they have also based their main claims on the
issue of linguistic rights. For the Catalonian people, language
a core value in Smolicz's sense. It is both a symbol and an
essentlal mstrument for the diffusion and the expressiveness of their
own This may be clearly observed by a rapid glance through
the pnnclpal texts of the founding fathers and the main intellectuals
and politicians of Catalanism. Beyond their personal political involve-
ments, to them language always appears as an indispensable and all-
pervading factor, which cannot easily be disregarded.
54 Daniele Conversi
According to the federalist Valentf Almirall (1841-1904), language
represented the main manifestation and means of expression of a
people's personality. What seemed to matter more to Almirall was the
character or 'spirit' of Catalonia, and language is deeply associated
with his idea of a Catalan Volksgeist:
The use of our language is the more eloquent manifestation of our
personality. Until the Catalan language will exist, every attempt at
[cultural] unification will be a true act of tyranny, whichever the
domain in which it will be exercised (1979, p. 78).
Most scholars of Catalan nationalism agree that Almirall formulated
the first clear nationalist programme, outlining the transition from
regionalism to nationalism. The bulk of nationalist thought was
conceived between the appearance of Almirall's Lo Catalanisme and
the publication of Prat de la Riba's La nacionalitat catalana (1906).11
The Church was soon dragged into this widely shared movement of
rediscovery of the Catalan personality. The traditionalist Bishop of
Vic, Josep Torras i Bages (1846-1916), one of the most authoritative
figures of the Catalan Church in the late nineteenth century, shared
this common feeling of identity with the language. 'Language is the
people . . . the thought of a nation, it is what characterizes and
portrays it . . . . Among all the social bonds, apart from religion,
language is the most deeply unifying' (Torras i Bages 1924, p. 38).12
As a representative of the bourgeois Catholic ethos, Torras i Bages
continually stressed the Christian origin of Catalonia in the Middle
Ages, so that the Catalan 'spirit' and Catholicism were seen as
inseparable dimensions of the same world-vision and way of life.
However, his attempt has remained relatively unsuccessful in a
predominantly secular society.
The secular pundit of Catalan bourgeois nationalism, Enric Prat de
la Riba (1870-1917) asserted that: 'One's own language is the most
powedul instrument for nationalization and therefore for the main-
tenance of the life of a nationality' (Prat de la Riba 1906, p. 91).13
Prat's vision tended to identify Spain's nationalities with the
distribution of its linguistic communities. He therefore proposed to
rebuild the Spanish state on the 'natural base' of four federated
regions: Galicia, Euskadi, Catalonia and Castile (this last including all
Castilian-speaking regions, even Andalusia). This also implied the
reunion of all Catalan-speaking territories under the project of a
Greater Catalonia, which would have included the Principat, the
Valencia region and the Balearic Islands. Prat expressed this project
in theory (Prat 1906), but in practice he was a moderate politician,
inclined to compromise (pactisme) and prone to bilateral negotiations
with the central government. Beyond his wider and unachieved
ambitions, he was able to stand firm on a few points: decentralization,
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 55
but above all, respect for and full development of, Catalan language
and culture. This he also demonstrated while he was president of the
Mancomunitat
14
from 1914 until his death in 1917. Under his
leadership, the efforts to revitalize the language were increased and
systematized. Many new institutions were created. The work of the
Institut d' Estudis Catalans alone contributed to turn Catalan language
into the vivid expression of an increasingly rich and articulate
contemporary culture.
15
It was within its framework that the linguist
Pompeu Fabra (1868-1948) elaborated a wide programme of reforms
and achieved the final standardization of Catalan. Under the patronage
of the Mancomunitat, many popular pedagogical institutes were also
created. Its infrastructure was used effectively 'to improve education,
roads and local services and to foster regional culture, giving Catalonia
by far the most intense cultural life of any region in Spain' (Payne
1973, vol. 2, p. 606).
Prat was heir to a long tradition whose central tenets have been
expressed again and again by other historical protagonists of the
movement:
Our language, the expression of our people, which can never be
given up, ... is the spiritual foundation of our existence
(Catalonian Cultural Committee 1924).16
The Catalan problem has as its only foundations the existence of a
sense of Catalan distinctiveness (Jet differencial), of an irrefutable
and indestructible Catalan personality. Within this distinctiveness,
the least questionable [element] is language and the adhesion of
Catalan people to their mother tongue (Camb6 1930, p. 26).17
Of all the elements which constitute a nationality, language is the
deepest, the strongest and the most decisive. This corporal and
spiritual value . . . makes of the language the symbol and the lively
expression of the personality of a people (Rovira i Virgili 1917,
pp. 147-8).18
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 ceases simply
to be (Ferrater i Mora 1944, pp. 108 et seq).19
This tie between language and identity has continued until the
present day. To mention a recent case, on 1 March 1989, Jordi Pujol,
the President of the Generalitat and leader of the Catalan majority's
nationalist party (Convergencia i Uni6) met with Felipe Gonzales, the
Socialist head of the Spanish Government. Here is an extract from the
President's speech: -
56 Daniele Conversi
The language issue will indicate whether the relations with the
central government are progressing or not . . . . If some issue is
absolutely crucial to Catalonia, it is its language and culture,
because they are the core elements of our identity as a people.
Catalonia will not deem its historical grievance resolved until the
cultural issue is settled . . . . Catalonia did not want autonomy for
political or administrative reasons, but for reasons of identity.z
If we consider that Jordi Pujol is the undisputed leader of a party
which has recently come to represent between 30 and 50 per cent of
the Catalan electorate and possibly more than that,21 we can gauge the
importance of language in present-day Catalan society.
Thus, language is conceived as a basic means by which to achieve
political stability in post-Franco Spain. Once the state structure is
reformulated in a pluralist and federalist way in order to grant the full
development of all Spanish languages, much of today's nationalism
may, according to some authors, simply lose its raison d' etre:
Once the legal context of the 'State of the Autonomies' has been
defined, the languages of the different Autonomous Communities
have been normalized, the institution of self-government
consolidated and the integration of immigrants endorsed
(encouraging their processes of national socialization through
education and mass-media), that is to say, once it is acknowledged
and accepted that plural dynamics are the only way to build a
democratic Spain, ... the national question will lose its
protagonism and the sensitiveness which it manifests today
(Hermindez 1986, p. 90).
Even though most political nationalists would not be satisfied simply
with having linguistic rights and no substantial increase in political
autonomy or self-government, the prevalence of this perspective
demonstrates the paramount importance of language within Catalan
nationalism.
However, the anthropologist, Oriol Pi i Sunyer, declares that Catalan
is now on the verge of losing its central weight, because of immigration
and the past governments' repressive policies:
At the very core of Catalan nationalism, as something that all could
share, as something that would differentiate them from other
peoples was the language. This raises what I believe is the key
question, the most important cultural and political consideration
with which this generation of Catalans must struggle: is it possible to
be Catalan without speaking the language? If the answer is in the
affirmative, what does it mean to be Catalan once the language
takes a secondary position as a symbol of identity? (1980, p. 114).
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 57
Once language is lost, the puzzling question of how to define a
Catalan awakens deep feelings of sadness and uncertainty. The issue
has repeatedly arisen since the big wave of immigration changed the
demography of the region. The answer has been twofold: an optimistic
attempt to reassert the use of a still-thriving language and a pessimistic
closure that refuses to acknowledge recent changes in the policies of
the Spanish state. The former choice is the one endorsed by the
political leaders of the Generalitat as well as by the Left opposition
(communists and socialists). The latter choice has, on the contrary,
prompted some people to abandon the ideal of cultural nationalism
and focus on a Basque-inspired blend of pro-independence radicalism
and political activism, occasionally backed up by military actions and
street mobilization. 22
We have spoken so far about the Catalan 'core' region (Principat).
However, the same kind of attitudes are also echoed in other Catalan-
speaking areas outside Catalonia proper. Thus, in the Valencia region,
according to the opinion of the writer and historian Joan Fuster,
language is 'not only the result of a previous unity [of all the Catalan
people], but also ... the basis of new bonds of solidarity' (Fuster
1977, p. 134).
In the Balearic Islands too, language is considered inseparable from
national identity:
We love our native language because only its words correspond
faithfully to what we feel inside us . . . . Every country has, has had
and must have, its own national poetry. How can it be denied that
this native poetry needs the native tongue to express itself and to
unfold its wings? (Josep Lluis Pons i Gallarza, quoted in Lull 1975,
vo!. 2, pp. 25-7).
Beginning in the last century, a communication network based
entirely on Catalan slowly developed throughout Catalonia and most
of the Catalan-speaking countries. Yet the efforts of the Catalan
intelligentsia were curtailed by centralism and dictatorships, just as
th b
23
ey were egmmng to succeed. Most repressive measures however
only reinforced the importance of language as a symbol:
Furthermore, the use of Catalan as a vehicle of modern communication
was already too well established when the first measures of radical
. . 24
proscnptIon were enforced. Through cultural oppression, ordinary
people became more aware of the value of language and
of its value as a political rallying element, though the
dIffuSIOn of the language in itself suffered dramatically from these
policies.
The central importance of language in present-day Catalonia means
that cultural and political nationalism often coincide. In Catalonia
political actors concerned with language and nationalism do
58 Daniele Conversi
necessarily play different parts, because language is an overriding
. . t 25H r
concern that sometimes supersedes even economic mteres s. oweve ,
whether or not they play different parts, the drama is certainly played
by the same actors.
The Basque dilemma
Most scholars of ethnopolitics have some knowledge about the violent
orientation of many radical nationalists in the Basque Country. At. the
same time, they acknowledge the relatively peaceful tone of <?atalamsm,
notwithstanding its wide popular support. malO
between Catalan and Basque nationalisms is the different emphasIs
they place upon language: in the former case it has been core value,
whereas in the latter it has had a much more ambiguous role.
Language was displaced by race, at least in the earlist formulations of
Sabino Arana (1865-1903), the putative father of modern Basque
nationalism.
The Catalans were greatly facilitated by the availability of a lively,
rich and widespread language. The Basques were not. Even today the
contrast between the two regions remains stark: whereas over 90 per
cent of the population in Catalonia proper (Principat) understand
Catalan and more than 60 per cent can either speak or read it (CIDC
1987), in the Basque Autonomous Community26 only 20 per cent ?f
the population know Euskara, with a maximum .of 35 to 40 per cent
Gipuzkoa27 and a minimum of 4 to 5 per cent m Araba (Letamendta
1987, p. 23).
The Basques therefore found themselves in a much more difficult
position in their attempts to select an element that would carry the
symbolic weight of national identity. As by another figure of
early Basque nationalism, Padre Evangehsta de Ibero (1906), the
nationalist leaders had at their disposal different elements around
which a national sense of awareness could be formed: the origin,
character, language, customs, laws, 'glories' (historical past), 'tenden-
cies, aspirations and destinies'. 28 Yet language was awarded a
secondary role:
... of all those properties, which one constitutes essentially a
nationality? In the first place, the blood, race or origin: in the second
place, the language. The other qualities are nothing but the 29
consequences of the first two, most specifically of the first one.
There was a further obstacle to the use of language as a unifying
national symbol. It was in fact used by Arana as an
ethnic border. That is to say, its function was to divIde the mdIgenous
population from the newcomers. This is in sharp contrast with the
Catalan case, where the language has been as a means of
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 59
integrating the immigrants, making them full participants in the
Catalan way of life and world-vision. So, Arana simply saw language
as a means of keeping the Basque people away from mixing with the
'foreigners':
The Vizcayans [= Basques] are as much bound to speak their
national language, as not to speak it to the maketos or Spaniards. It
is not to speak this or the other language, but rather the difference
between languages which is the great means of preserving ourselves
from the contagion of Spaniards and avoiding the mixing of the two
races. 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 are subject to their domination. 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 with Euskera, it would be for us
the final blow of unavoidable death dealt from the most refined
diplomacy (Arana n.d., vol. 1, p. 404; emphasis added).
Yet, this attitude of Arana is paradoxical in so far as we know that
one of his main concerns was to recover his country's ancestral tongue.
Indeed, Arana can be considered a 'language strategist' (Weinstein
1987), because Euskara was for him both the end and the means, and
?is strategy was to utilize the language (or at least in part) as an
mstrument of political mobilization, albeit only among the Euskaldun
population (indigenous; originally, Basque-speaking).30 However, this
strategy could not be pursued in the cities, especially in Bilbao, where
Arana operated, and where his PNV (Partido Nacionalista Vasco =
Basque Nationalist Party) was founded in 1895, had its first meetings
and achieved its first electoral successesY Here, Euskara was scarcely
spoken.
1?is to be a paradox: at least at its inception Basque
was more powerful among those sectors of the population
not speak Euskara.
32
Eighty per cent of the nationalist
penodlcals and magazines at the turn of the century (even the official
the PNV), were written in Spanish, 'an essential condition, if
thIS of press were to attract readers' (Letamendia 1987, p. 25).
Even m the French part of the Basque Country, where the language is
spoken and understood, 80 per cent of the
natlonahst penodIcals are today still edited in French (Letamendia
1987, p. 25).
. These amb.ivalent linguistic attitudes of most early Basque national-
IStS. to the scarce diffusion, of Euskara: political
revered It as a national symbol, although they overlooked it as
a practIcal means for modern communications. In this, they perpetuated
60 Daniele Conversi
the diglossic patterns that they inherited from the past. The same
Arana did not know Euskara, nor did his parents speak it at home.
Yet he learned the language, and the effort and time invested in it are
a measure of his commitment.
The strategy of Arana was to adopt a double and contradictory
attitude towards 'natives' and immigrants. The following passage
shows clearly the ambiguity of Arana's project vis-a-vis the language:
To an euskeriano (= native speaker of Euskara).
... If you don't love the language of your Fatherland, you can't
love your Fatherland either. If you do not love your Fatherland, you
cannot love your forebears. Do you want your children and progeny
to despise you? (Arana n.d., pp. 1306-7).
To an euskertifilo (= non-native speaker or learner of Euskara).
Great damage can be done to the Fatherland by one hundred
maketos who do not know Euskera. Even worse is the damage that
can be done by only one maketo who knows it.
. . . In the heart of the Fatherland, every euskeriano who does
not know Euskera is a thorn; every euskeriano who knows it and is
not a patriot is two thorns; every Spaniard who speaks Euskera is
three thorns (Arana n.d., pp. 1307-8).
The stress is thus shifted from language to race as a substantial
characteristic of the ser vasco (being Basque). The motives for this
shift can be found in the peculiar anthropological situation of the
region, to which the nationalists realistically tried to adapt their own
political programmes. In the Basque Country, Euskara had become,
by then, a minority language, spoken by a minority within the minority
and destined for extinction. The appeal was therefore directed at race.
This might seem a more obscure and less tangible element. However,
in the Basque case it was more powerful and charged with mobilizing
effects. 'Race' was normally traced back through people's surnames, as
proof of a putative Basque ancestry. But why race, and not any other
element or value? If there were no language to be taken up as a means
of national awakening, was there not then a more accessible symbol of
identity in sight? The answer lies in the semantic and historical
transformation of the ancient concept of 'collective nobility' (hidalguia
colectiva). This was the 'moral core of the Basque sense of ethnic
uniqueness', a fact that 'seems to have few parallels elsewhere in
Europe', in so far as 'any Basque able to prove birth of Basque parents
... was automatically recognized as noble by virtue of purity of blood'
(Greenwood 1977, p. 86).
Its historical origins can be traced back at least to 1053 when, for the
first time, the inhabitants of a local valley were granted permission to
bear arms and raise their own popular militia. However, the great bulk
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 61
of these concessions date from the late fourteenth century. They
coincided with the first major thrusts towards Spanish centralization
and were conferred in order to protect the northern borders from the
enemy's incursions.
33
This was so because the new centralization
trends had caused:
an immediate problem of vulnerability to border attacks and
increased the French motivation to step up their incursions. Unable
to afford massive border defences, the Catholic kings and their
successors were able to use grants of collective nobility to insure
themselves a degree of border control. The Basque sense of ethnic
uniqueness and their acceptance of the idea that they were Spanish
were at that time easily compatible (1977, p. 92).
In the idea of a collective nobility we can find the origin of the
strong concern by Arana and the first nationalists for racial integrity
and purity of blood. Arana was the man who transformed this ancient
concept of 'collective nobility' into the more modern one of 'race' .
At the same time, we also have to acknowledge the existence of a
few supposedly objective non-historical factors: a separate Basque race
is said to exist in so far as several attempts have been made to prove
the existence among the Basque population of a high percentage of
blood group 0 and a lesser presence of blood groups B and AB. 34
Another element of unfathomable primordality is the Basque tongue,
conceived as a still-living proof of the survival of the most ancient
people of Europe. In fact, Euskara is a language whose origins still
remain an enigma. Likewise, the origins of the Basque people are
wrapped in mystery. It was especially because of its prehistoric
testimony that many early Basque nationalists attached importance to
language.
The concept of collective nobility therefore derives from an
interrelation of historical, anthropological and biological factors.
Another feature of this concept lies in the egalitarian ethos in which it
is deeply entrenched. All Basques were nobles; 'thus, a butcher,
shoemaker, charcoal-burner, scribe or soldier - rich or poor - was a
noble' (Greenwood 1977, p. 87). This myth of Basque egalitarianism
35
is central to understanding the strong recent impact of leftist parties
and ideologies, despite the religious and tradition-bound orientation of
most of Basque rural society. Modern Basque egalitarianism has its
roots in the concept of shared nobility, which advocates no in-group
differences of status.
36
The stress on race therefore had a specific meaning for the Basques
and probably has no parallels in other parts of the industrialized world.
Yet this very stress has proved to be untenable in present-day Euskadi,
after large-scale 'Spanish' immigration, first at' the end of the last
century and then, in even greater numbers, after the late 1950s. It was
62 Daniele Conversi
not by chance that ETA (Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna = Basque
and Freedom) was created in the late 1950s. By the end of the penod
of mass immigration (in the mid-1970s), ETA had turned to armed
struggle and was reaching the highest peak of its violent
largest number of political killings in ETA's history was carned out m
1978). Immigration as an explanatory, though indirect, variable t?e
spread of violence in Euskadi is stressed by the same ETA m Its
earliest years' Libro Blanco:
Massive immigration is creating new lifestyles, customs [which are]
incompatible with our way of being and which will end up by
submerging the Basque people, if they do not react. . . . The
threat of extinction is so great that we Basques only have one path:
uniting ourselves and forgetting any differences between US.
37
However , ETA has continuously tried to escape the bequest of
Aranist ideology and has struggled to define itself in progressive terms:
its founders have repeatedly accused Arana and its followers in the
PNV of being racists.
38
This has often almost led to alienating its rural
Euskaldun base, which had hitherto accepted the Aranist tenets of
Basque exclusiveness. .
The racially oriented theses of Sabino Arana are now rejected by all
Basque nationalist parties. However, as they characterize the first
formulations of Basque nationalism, the writings of Arana have
indirectly conditioned the subsequent choices of the nationalist
movement. To a great extent, the choice of violence stems directly
from the deep identity crisis associated with mass immigration and the
consequent eclipse of the traditional ethnocentric vision of the first
Basque nationalists.
Nevertheless, language has emerged at different points as a central
issue, albeit discontinuously, for many Basque leaders, especially
within the radical milieux. It has become a crucial element of Basque
politics, particularly in the last ten years (Urla 1987; 1988; Valle 1988;
1989).
Conclusion
In the writings of most Catalan intellectuals we find a persistent
concern for the fate of language. This continual effort gave Catalan
nationalism its strength and stability. It acted as a firm standpoint for
negotiations with Madrid, which in its turn has seen this emphasis on
culture as a stable point of reference for improving its relations with
the periphery during the democratic phases of Spanish history. By
contrast, Basque nationalism, lacking a similarly stable basis and
consequently similarly persistent politics, has - at least in the past -
been more unclear in its relations with the central government and
more ambiguous in its self-definition.
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 63
This argument does not mean that language was unimportant for
Basque nationalism. Indeed, it has been a central concern for all its
main theorists and intellectuals. Yet, the scarce diffusion of Euskara
and its fragmentation into dialects has led most Basque politicians
(especially within the main nationalist party, the PNV) to play it down
in favour of other more traditionally-oriented factors, such as religion
and race. This indeterminacy, ambivalence and indefiniteness shaped
the development of Basque nationalism.
In Catalonia the emphasis on language provided a powerful
instrument both for the consolidation of the nationalist ideology and
for a slow integration of the immigrants.
In this different emphasis lies the characterization of the exclusive
identity promoted by early Basque nationalism, versus the inclusive
identity adopted by Catalanism since its beginning.39 Catalanism
resembles what Kohn (1968) defines as 'open nationalism', directed to
absorb and welcome new elements, exogenous stimuli and contributions
into its culture. These are endogenously translated in order to merge
them into a unique, but articulated, national culture, conceived as in
perpetual evolution.
40
Conversely, Arana's programme reflects the
model of a 'closed nationalism' outlined by Kohn.41 It is always
possible to learn a new language. It is never possible to change one's
forefathers.
Notwithstanding their initial differences, both movements stress
today the centrality of language for the definition of their national
identity. This viewpoint is shared in Catalonia by all political parties,
except by a large part of the extreme right, and in the Basque Country
by most of them. However, it is still hard to maintain that language has
become a core value for Basque society, though even ordinary people
have now started to attach considerable importance to it. 42 This
affective dimension cannot often be translated into an active use of
Euskara, due to the intrinsic difficulties of mastering this language, in
contrast to the relative ease with which a Castilian-speaker can learn
Catalan, a closely related tongue.
In this article I have not claimed to explain the causes of the birth of
the two nationalist movements. If that were the aim, I should have
devoted more attention to other factors, such as state intervention and
repression, class antagonism and competition, or more general
economic variables. Rather, the aim has been to demonstrate how
language has played a central role in the formation and programmes of
the two nationalist movements, and how the absence or presence of
such a powerful element of distinctiveness as language can affect the
growth of two otherwise similar social movements. I have also
explained why language has been replaced by race in Euskadi and,
finally, why this substitution became impracticable with the mass
arrival of immigrants (considering that immigrants< had already started
to move into Bilbao and other centres in Arana's day).
64 Daniele Conversi
The relationship of this cultural ambiguity to political violence
among the Basques is the subject of another study.
The argument presented recognizes three other important
elements of Basque and Catalan nationalisms: law (the abolition of the
fueros or local rights is seen by most historians as a decisive factor in
the birth of Basque nationalism), territory (which is the base of all
nationalist movements) and voluntary action (which is central to the
definition of Basque identity by showing commitment to a common
goal).43
It appears that language, rather than race, can offer better prospects
for successful ethnonationalist mobilization. Basque nationalism has
broadened its popular appeal to the extent that it has abandoned racial
exclusiveness. The proposition holds particularly when the impact of
immigration makes ascriptive criteria - such as race or putative origin -
difficult to adapt to a consensus-oriented political programme, and to
the nationalist movement's need for extending the range of its
supporters in times of democracy. As other values are more diffuse or
difficult to define, language has easily increased its prominence in
nationalist society. However, Euskara, like other 'ethnic' languages, is
both scarcely spoken and difficult for immigrants to master. For this
reason, it has not always appealed to nationalist elites as an obvious
means of nation-making. The consequencs of this missing element are
several, among them, the resort to violence by many nationalists and
its recently widespread legitimation within Basque society. 'Inclusivism'
per se in terms of territory or language does not explain the differential
success of nationalist movements. However, it is certainly a necessary
ingredient of success where immigration or mixed-origin constituencies
make an appeal to race or putative origin impossible.
It also appears that stability in the choice of core values matters
most for a rational development of any ethnonationalist programme.
This stability is scarcely feasible, however, where national languages
have been lost or where diglossia is deeply entrenched in daily habits.
Acknowledgements
The editing of this article has been assisted by several people, both students and
scholars. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the contributions of Jacqueline Kaye and
Alison Palmer for their help in improving the English of numerous parts of the initial
text. Special thanks are also due to Joan-Pau Rubies and Kepa Fernandez de Larrinoa
for their comments on the Catalan and the Basque cases respectively.
Notes
1. See, for instance, Smith (1981) and Tiryakian and Rogowski (1985).
2. Di Giacomo has applied this concept to her study of Catalanism, recognizing that
'all nationalist movements select from the range of symbols available to them one, or
perhaps two, that represents them and their goals' (Di Giacomo 1984, pp. 21-2).
3. Hutchinson (1987, p. 308) also highlights the Irish as an example. He argues that,
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 65
although the declin.e of Gaelic the rise of modem nationalism, a 'plausible
reason for the dechne of the [Insh) language is that, as a symbol of nationality m t
I
'h d ' os
ns men regarded it as definitely secondary to religion'.
4. In :Iew of Its Importance, territory could also be considered a core value among
the Abongmes, and the Native groups in general.
5. See the parallel importance of religion and language in such groups as, for
instance, the Arabs, the Georgians or the Armenians.
6. See Terry (1977).
7. .consihders. that the overall number of books published in the Basque
la.nguage unng t e sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is
shghtly more than 600 (1974, p. 115). In comparison, the number of publications in
Catalan for the same period rises to several thousands.
8. The of loyalty' was coined by Weinreich (1953) and since then it
has been extensively u.sed m the sociology of language (see Fishman 1966).
9. . In a now claSSIC paper, Ferguson (1959) describes 'diglossia' as the uneven
coexistence of or varieti.es of language in the same community. The high
language. (H) IS used most pubhc and formal domains; it has a written and
standardized and It is therefore normally associated with high status. The low
(L) IS spoken in informal situations, such as within the family, among
fnends, etc., and It normally has a low prestige.
10.. Significantly, the beginning of modem Catalan political nationalism is often
to -:V0rk men of letters. The publication of the Poesies (= poems) by
JoaqUlm I Ors m 1841 can be considered the starting point of the association
between and. cultural nationalism, since in its preface the author advances for
the first time the possibility of literary and political independence for Catalonia.
11. See Llobera (1983, p. 343). Other scholars consider Joan Cortada's Cataluiia y
Los catalanes (1860) as an nationalist statement. However, Almirall's Lo Catalanisme
was first clear exposItion of Catalan political nationalism, even though it centred on
than independence. Prat de la Riba's posterior work (for instance, his
Catechism of 1894) separates clearly the two concepts of state and nation: Catalonia is
the fatherland of the Catalans; Spain is merely a state.
12. Also quoted in Mercade, Hernandez and Oltra (1983, p. 78).
Also quoted in Oltra (1983, p. 78).
. . The was the admmlstratlve union and co-ordinating body of the
dlputaclOns. governments) of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona,
which most natlOnahsts see as the forerunner of, and the first step towards Catalan
It was created in 1914, and suppressed in 1925 by the dictatorship 'Of Primo
e Rlvera (1923-1931). See Camps i Arboix (1963).
15
i
The institute.'s task was the thorough investigation of all the elements of Catalan
cu:.u
re
. Although It was founded in 1907, the major thrust towards its manifold
ac levements came later under the Mancomunitat.
16. Cultural Committee, Appeals on Behalf of Catalonia Geneva'
Cataloman Cultural Committee, 1924, p. 13, cited by Fishman (1972 p 46/ .
17. Francesc Camb6 (1876-1947). ,. .
i Virgili (1882-1949). Also quoted in Mercade, Hernandez and
Also quoted in Rossinyol (1974, p. 179). Josep Ferrater i Mora (b 1912) one of
philosophers, has stressed this vision his im'portant
e orms 0 atalan hfe' (1944).
20. Declaration of Jordi Pujol, El Pais, 2 March 1989, p. 14
It should that all political parties, with the exception of the far
of an active pohcy of language revival and fully subscribe to the normalization
22. A brief note on the birth of C t I .
alle edl' , a a an autonomist groups as a response to the
g y slow progress towards Catalanization can be found in Laitin (1989, pp.
66
Daniele Conversi
314-5). Referring to the 'pessimistic' studies on the current decline of Catalan, Llobera
states that 'these Cassandra-like predictions have been disproved by the sheer
determination of an often small but extremely committed and active group of people
who fought against the "current of history" and managed to change its direction'
(Llobera 1989, p. 258).
23. On cultural oppression in Catalonia during early Francoism, see Jones (1976).
24. For instance, Pompeu Fabra's work of language standardization as a unified
means of communication was well under way before Primo de Rivera's coup.
25. To confirm this, it is enough to consider the yearly expenditure that the Catalan
government specifically allocates to language planning and to the increase of the know-
ledge of Catalan in school curricula. .
26. The disputed region of N avarre officially forms another Autonomous Commumty.
27. From here onward, I shall use the official (batua) spelling for names in Euskara,
except for those few names, such as Navarre, that have an equivalent in English.
28. We shall consider later how the concept of 'collective nobility' has been a 'core
symbol' that has been continually developed, elaborated and modified. Yet, .'whether .it
is seen as cleanliness of blood or as egalitarianism and democracy, a basIc symbolIc
consistency is maintained throughout' (Greenwood 1977, p. 102).
29. Ibero (1906; emphasis added), cited in Linz (1973, p. 37). Also quoted by
Krutwig (1963, p. 547). . . . .
30. The importance of language can also be gauged by consldenng the self-defimtIon
and self-description of many Basques. In fact, a Basque can also define himself or herself
using the term Euskaldun, which means a person who has (-du-n) the Basque language
(Euskal-) (Alliers 1977, p. 3). Furthermore, many present-day Basque nationalists often
prefer to use the word Euskalerria to define their country,. than the more
commonly accepted term Euskadi. The former refers, at least ongmally, to the whole of
the people who speak Euskera and means the 'Country of Euskera' (Euskal- = Basque
language, herri = Country).
31. Basque nationalism was also born as a typically urban phenomenon. The PNV
got one third of the seats of the municipality of Bilbao and the nationalist -:vas
elected in 1907. However, it is also true that the centre of gravIty of Basque natIOnalIsm
has been moving eastward for the last ten years from Bizkaia to Gipuzkoa, and today the
highest proportions of nationalist voting can be found in the countryside and small towns
(Clark 1987, p. 437).
32. For a different thesis, albeit one that refers to the late 1970s and early 1980s, see
Clark 1979; 1980, pp. 81-3; 1981; 1987, p. 439). According to Shabad and Gunther, it is
in Euskadi today 'that the use of the regional language is more strongly associated with
attachment to the ethnic group', confirming a shifting trend in Basque identity and in the
identification of core values (1982, pp. 450 et seq.).
33. 'In return for the grants, the people swore to personally defend their area
without recompense. By doing so, they served as the border garrisons of the Spanish
state. When attacks were particularly severe, their resistance gave the time needed to
bring the state's army into position' (Greenwood 1977, pp. 91-2).
34. Such claims to physiognomic distinctiveness also include straightforward
arguments about a different cranial formation and distinctive hair and eye colouring.
Collins dismisses these claims as neither objective nor scientific (1986, p. 5) and holds
that 'they are dictated by the predetermined requirements of a nationalist. ideology,
rather than by a process of rational deduction' (Collins 1986, p. 7). Accordmg to the
same author, language is 'the sole satisfactory tool with which it is possible to approach
the question of Basque identity and origins' (1986, p. 8).
35. Otazu (1973) has shown that Basque egalitarianism was little more than a myth.
36. Greenwood (1977, p. 87) uses the argument of a shared nobility to explain why
its vestiges 'presently manifest themselves in the egalitarian and democratic tone of
Basque society'. A good account of the egalitarian ethos pervading Basque society can
be found in Heiberg (1985, pp. 288 et seq.). See also Heiberg (1989, pp. 32-3).
Language or race?: Catalan and Basque nationalisms 67
37. 'Documentos Y', El Libro Bianco, Donostia: Hordago, 1981, quoted by
Gurruchaga (1985, pp. 233--4).
38. For instance, Krutwig has recently said that 'Arana was more racist than Hitler'
(from an interview in Cambio 16, 23 January 1984, quoted in Gilmour 1985). The 'shock'
caused by mass immigration can be seen, together with the problem of a new definition
of Basque identity, as the main reason for ETA's birth.
39. On the shifting patterns of the Catalan identity, see Roca (1977), Di Giacomo
(1984), Woolard (1986; 1989, pp. 35-60) and Terradas (1989).
40. Christina (1987) applies this distinction to a comparative study of
Catalan and Occltan natIOnalIsms. The Catalan sociologist Salvador Giner uses the
Popperian of 'open society', as 'one in which there is a considerable variety
of optIons and lIfe-chances for many of its members, whose diverse opinions may
be .expressed freely, and whose behaviour is not entirely controlled by an intolerant
pohty . . . . known collectivity embodies perfectly the virtues of such a society ...
[but]. Cataloma must be counted among those countries which have managed with
relatIve success to approxImate to the distant ideal' (Giner 1980, p. 14).
41. If we wish to avoid Kohn's dichotomy, we can question the self-description of
Arana's movement and party as 'nationalists' and, rather, view them as a neo-
traditionalist reaction to a threatened ethnocentrism.
42. For a thesis that stresses the centrality of the language issue in present-day
Basque nationalist programmes, see Urla (1987, 1988).
43. The concept of ekintza (action) is a central element in Basque society (Zulaika
1988). in the ethic of treball (work) and voluntary action permeates
the CIVIl socIety (Gmer 1980). However, it is in the Basque Country that the
of 'who is Basque?' derived pre-eminently from active participation in the
natIOnal struggle (see also Linz 1985).
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DANIELE CONVERSI is a Research Student in Sociology at the London School of
Economics and Political Science, University of London.
ADDRESS: Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political
Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom.
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