“Participation and personal investment in reclaiming an ethnic label”
Channel: Helsinki Collegium
Date: 2018-11-16

The international symposium "Politics of participation: Anthropological reflections on power and interaction" took place at Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies on October 18-19, 2018

Panel 1: Scales of Participation and Community (Un)Belonging
Chair: Anssi Peräkylä, Professor, Sociology, University of Helsinki

Hanna Lantto, Postdoctoral Researcher, Foreign Languages and Translation Studies, University of Eastern Finland: “Participation and personal investment in reclaiming an ethnic label”

This paper examines the challenges that an emphasis on participation and personal investment in reclaiming a Basque identity creates for non-native speakers of Basque. Euskalduna, the Basque word for both Basque and Basque speaker translates as “the one who has the Basque language.” The Basque revitalization movement has tried to argue that euskalduna is an inclusive ethnic identity practiced through language acquisition and involvement in the Basque-language culture. The onus is, thus, on the individual, who has to take active participatory measures to reclaim their Basqueness.

However, non-native Basque speakers struggle with issues of legitimacy and a new folklinguistic term, euskaldun berriak, ‘new Basque speakers’ has emerged to separate them from those who are perceived as authentic Basques. Euskara batua, the linguistic variety used by new Basque speakers has also been labelled as artificial and unfit for informal use. Some speakers actively seek to overcome the perceived inauthenticity. Even though language planning is often associated with governments and formal institutions, new language forms can be consciously created at the local level by groups and individuals. I focus on the language practices of a friend group that has created their own version of colloquial Basque using a combination of features from Spanish, Basque dialects, and archaic Basque. Yet even the very local practices of bottom-up language planning are often restricted to the linguistically aware elites. The members of the group are educated young adults, and many of them have a background in studies and professions that involve language and communication. Most new speakers of Basque do not have access to the linguistic capital that is required to create local colloquial registers. The lack of multilingual awareness and linguistic confidence blocks them from participating in the speech community and thereby from reclaiming their identity as euskalduna.