JUAN INAZIO HARTSUAGA
Abstract:
The anthropologist and activist in favor of the Basque language Juan Inazio Hartsuaga makes two interesting proposals in this article to revitalize our language.
Mr. Hartsuaga states that bilingualism is the phase prior to the death of any minoritized language. Wherever bilingualism is introduced, history shows us that the minoritized language disappears within a maximum period of 200 years. In the Basque Country there are no longer monolingual speakers of Basque, so our language has already entered this pre-agonic phase.
Therefore, he proposes to advance towards a new Basque monolingualism, a monolingualism different from that of our ancestors (“de facto” monolingualism); a “de iure” monolingualism, that is, a functional monolingualism based on the dominance of the Basque language, with legal support, in the most Basque-speaking areas of our country.
First proposal: in the Western Basque Country (Basque Autonomous Community) the new political statute (currently being processed) should be used to strengthen our language, creating areas of special linguistic protection where the Basque language will be the only official language (or at least it will always be legally above Spanish). These special linguistic zones, with functional Basque monolingualism, will basically be the towns with less than 25,000 inhabitants currently included in the UEMA organization (Association of Basque-speaking municipalities, where there are about 100 Basque municipalities).
Second proposal: In the same way that territorial areas with functional monolingualism are needed, the same thing happens in the field of the media. Therefore, Mr. Hartsuaga proposes that the Basque Public Television (ETB), which today operates in bilingual mode, with channels in Basque and Spanish, be divided into two: one television exclusively in the Basque language, with operation and programming in Basque, and another television in Spanish, with content exclusively in Spanish. Two Basque Public Television Stations, instead of one as at present.
Note from Naziogintza: Mr. Hartsuaga’s first proposal is very similar to the linguistic proposal we made two years ago (see this article: https://www.naziogintza.eus/en/linguistic-territoriality-proposal/).
