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Bernardo Atxaga interviewed for the Financial Times
2012-10-24 ¦ Press
The Financial Times has just published an interview with Bernardo Atxaga that touches on the author’s work, the current political situation, the Basque language, and the Basque Country in general, among other topics.
The conversation that journalist David Gardner’s had with Bernardo Atxaga on a recent visit to the author’s home in Zalduondo was published this past weekend in the Financial Times under the title Basque flourishes amid Spanish divide.
The interview touched on a range of topics, including the renowned author’s work, his relationship with the Basque language, and the Basque Country’s present situation and past history.
The full interview can be read at the Financial Times, and a modified version is also available on the Washington Post's web page.
Here are some excerpts:
"Bernardo Atxaga is a man whose thinking seems to be under constant review. It is very odd to think that, in your own lifetime, your own language was forbidden, he says, as if the thought had just occurred to him."
"Mr Atxaga is controversial among some Spanish nationalists for what they see as his culturally assertive Basqueness, and looked at askance by some Basque nationalists as well. His views on Basque modern history are not exactly orthodox. Language is usually the starting point."
"Mr Atxaga has written on the transition from Euzkadi to the now more consensual Euskadi, but evidently prefers Euskal Herria, meaning People who speak Basque. Euskal Herria is like a little belt on the gown of a lady, he says."
"If there is something that Basque society in its entirety believes, it is that they have been the target of unmeasured and systematic aggression – towards Basques, their language and their culture."
Photo: Financial Times.