Contemporary Basque Literature

Kirmen Uribe's Proposal

Jon Kortazar.

Basque literature is unknown because of the language in which it is written. It is a “small literature” that has, however, experienced major development, both in terms of production and reading, since the 1970s. This book describes the changes in this literary system, taking into account the opinions of cultural agents in defining the aspirations, efforts, and achievements of a literature that seeks to go beyond the boundaries of language through quality literary creations. The historic transformation of the initial preoccupations of authors serves as a focus for describing past narration through to the present day in contemporary Basque literature. In that context of literary creation and self-confidence, the book analyzes the work of Kirmen Uribe (1970), an author who has become a major breath of fresh air in the literature of contemporary Spain. Described by Jordi Gracia and Domingo Ródenas as an author of “notable fortune,” his harmony with the public has grown quickly through a narrative rooted in memory as a source of identity, in postmodern societies, and a way of narrating that combines multimedia literary techniques with oral narration.

Jon Kortazar (1955), Professor of Basque Literature at the University of the Basque Country. He is a compulsory reference point in his field of study after an extensive career. He has supervised Historia de la literatura vasca contemporánea (8 volumes, 2007–2013). His Literatura Vasca siglo XX has gone through six editions. He wrote Luma eta lurra (La pluma y la tierra), a history of Basque poetry, which was quickly translated into Spanish. Montañas en la niebla. Poesía vasca de los años 90 completes his analysis of contemporary Basque poetry. His works have been translated into ten languages.

Autonomía e ideología : tensiones en el campo cultural vasco / Jon Kortazar (ed.).

El atentado contra Carrero Blanco como lugar de (no-)memoria : narraciones históricas y representaciones culturales / Patrick Eser, Stefan Peters (eds.)

Encrucijadas globales : redefinir España en el siglo XXI / José Colmeiro (ed.)

Más es más : Sociedad y cultura en la España democrática, 1986-2008 / Jordi Gracia, Domingo Ródenas de Moya (eds.)