English subtitles for clip: File:Ikusgela-Bigarren Euskal Pizkundea.webm

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Hello!

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You may remember that we
started to get familiarized with

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the movement called the
"Basque Renaissance"...

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O, haven't you
seen the video yet?

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Well, go look for it right
away! It's well worth a view!

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I spoke of the First Renaissance,
but I did not go through the Second.

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So let's get started now!

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(I hope no one has spoiled it
for anyone in the audience...)

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The First Renaissance came
to an end on Primo de Rivera's

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establishment of a
dictatorship in 1923.

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The ensuing oppressive political
regime in Spain lasted until 1930.

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Just then, as soon
as that regime ended,

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the period we are going to examine
now, the Second Basque Renaissance,

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re-emerges from its ashes
after its forced vanishing.

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This flourishing comes as a response
to the grim period experienced.

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Now yes, I'm going to give you a spoiler:
it was a short period, but fruitful.

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In the last years of
his dictatorial regime,

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Primo de Rivera and its government
began to moderate its laws.

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These later years, at least one Day
of the Basque Language took place,

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several books in Basque and
works of poetry were also published,

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among them this collection of poems
that set in the Second Renaissance,

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"Biozkadak" ("hunches"), by
Koldobika Jauregi, published in 1929.

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And why do we claim that this
book stimulated this movement?

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Because it was the
necessary excuse to

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organize the first Olerti
Eguna ('Day of Poetry').

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But to explain it, first of all, I should
bring up the group Euskaltzaleak.

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It was founded in 1930 in Donostia (San
Sebastián) on the Feast of Saint Thomas.

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The priest and writer José Ariztimuño,
nicknamed "Aitzol", brought together

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several Basque
creators, who agreed

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to form a group and join
forces to promote poetry.

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Poetry, yes.

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The First Renaissance developed
along several cultural fields:

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music, magazine publishing...

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However, for Aitzol,
poetry was called to be

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the main driving force behind
the Second Renaissance.

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Why?

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Aitzol stated that poetry
satisfied the conditions

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to gather and voice
the soul of a people.

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Furthermore, Aitzol discovers that
the new states emerging in Europe

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since the 19th century
built their collective

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identity as a people
through poetry.

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And that was precisely
the dream he cherised:

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combining epic and cultural
poetry. Definitely, no easy task!

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But let's get to the point, we
return to the work "Biozkadak".

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The first decision the
group Euskaltzaleak

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makes is to organize
a day of poetry

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in honor of the book "Biozkadak"
and its author Koldobika Jauregi.

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The day took place in
Errenteria, Jauregi's hometown,

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where a multitude of events
are held within an extensive

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program (religious services,
poetry recitals, conferences...).

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It was all apparent that poetry held
enough power to influence the people.

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Yes, at least, power enough
to organize more days of poetry.

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I'm citing Koldobika
Jauregi over and over again,

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but that is not
completely accurate.

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Like today's rappers, Jauregi
had an AKA, a nickname.

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Would you like to
know what it was?

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"Jautarkol":
Jauregitar Koldobika.

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Boom!

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And he was not the only one.

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We know by their nicknames the
four most significant poets of the period,

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poets who got renown in the
events organized by the group,

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like Jose Maria Agirre, aka "Lizardi",
Estepan Urkiaga, aka "Lauaxeta",

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Nikolas Ormaetxea, aka "Orixe",
and Juan Arana, aka "Loramendi".

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They all featured nicknames,
but among all the poets

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who participate in
the days of poetry

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various styles and
subgroups could be found.

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They are generally
divided into three groups.

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On the one hand,
there were the poets of

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Basque romanticism that
came from the 19th century.

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These writers use poetic forms
that draw more on bertsolarism

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than on modernism, and open
the doors to a new conception.

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This group includes authors
such as Emeterio Arrese

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or Jautarkol
himself, cited above.

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Secondly, there are those who
cultivated narrative and epic poetry.

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In line with classical
education, they use

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solid and rational poetry which
mingles thought and affection.

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Orixe may well be the
greatest author of this group.

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Yes! Orixe, as it
sounds, nor "origin"

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neither "Orisha", pretty simple.

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As a third group, we have
the modernists who took

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the opposite path, among
them Lizardi and Lauaxeta.

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Although very different
from each other, both sought

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to renew Basque poetry
through the elaboration of lyrics.

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Through symbolism,
they aspired to bring

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Basque poetry closer
to contemporary daily life.

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So what do you think,

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was coexistence between the
three trends peaceful and calm?

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Frankly, no.

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Several controversies
arose in that brief

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but passionate Second
Renaissance period.

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There were three
major sticking points:

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The first is related
to language.

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Lauaxeta and Lizardi
were the winners of the first

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two editions of poetry, but
the decisions aroused disputes.

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They were accused of using
incomprehensible language.

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On the one hand, Fermin Irigarai "Larreko",
a cultural personality, denounced

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that Lauaxeta's poems had to be translated
into Spanish to understand their meaning.

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On the other hand, an anonymous letter
published in "Argia" in 1932 criticized

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Lizardi, stating that
for all his contribution

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to poetry by means of new
forms, it was more opaque.

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The second controversy, on
the other hand, revolved around

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the opposite ways of
understanding classicism.

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It ignited when
Lizardi published

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"Biotz-begietan" in 1932, a debate
engaged in between Orixe and Lauaxeta.

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Both held the work as classic, but
they don't give it the same meaning.

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Orixe understands that
classicism represents

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a permanent value, based
on immutable models.

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By contrast, Lauaxeta disagrees.

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In his opinion, it makes no sense that
classicism does not change over time,

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it needs to be dynamic.

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Ultimately, this debate highlights
two contrasting aesthetic positions:

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the passion and
audacity of Lauaxeta,

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as opposed to the economy
and restraint of Orixe.

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A third controversy
confronts two subgroups:

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the supporters of popular poetry
and the advocates of cultured poetry.

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This controversy was the one that
hit the Second Renaissance hardest.

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It was, in fact, Aitzol himself, one of
the main promoters of the movement,

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who stirred it, when in 1934
he attacked Orixe for placing

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too much emphasis on epic
poems, at the expense of lyrical ones.

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Basically, Aitzol's criticism suggests
a certain failure of the Renaissance,

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since its issues did not
stop in internal controversies:

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certainly, few copies of
poetry books were sold,

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which barely reached their
target fellow Basque readers.

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The growing expansion of
Spanish at the expense of Basque

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necessarily required literature
readily accesible to citizens.

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They were not succesful.

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You may have noticed it already,
I have only talked about men!

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Well, with less prominence
than they should,

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women also wrote
poems at the time.

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Here are three names, for
those who want to investigate:

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Teje Mujika, Rosario Artola
and Sorne Unzueta "Utarsus".

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And another important note.

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Despite the flowering of poetry
in the Basque Country of Spain,

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the Northern Basque
Country bore witness

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to the development
of other movements,

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in which prose or narrative
stands out as the preferred genre.

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It is worth mentioning two
very different authors here:

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Jean Barbier, a writer who
wanted to show his reality

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from a conservative and traditional
point of view, while the other,

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Jean Etxepare Bidegorri
(yes, Bidegorri...),

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better known by his
nickname Mirikua,

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addresses topics such
as love, sex or education,

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also bringing in
some novelties in form.

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I told you that the Second Basque
Renaissance was short, right?

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So we have come
to the end, 1936.

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And what happens,
then, that year?

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The Spanish Civil War broke out.

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It lasts three years and gives
way to Franco's dictatorial regime.

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With the war and the ensuing
dictatorship, once again,

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Basque language
and creativity grind to

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a complete halt to the
south of the Pyrenees.

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Luckily, there is no evil that
lasts for a hundred years!

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And what about Iparralde?
(Northern Basque Country)

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Unfortunately, war drums
were also being heard there.

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In 1939, World War II broke
out, the bloodiest war in history,

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which also accelerated a trend
started in the First World War:

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the increase in the
sense of belonging

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to France at the expense
of Basque nationalism.

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Enough for today, right?

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See you around!