Letter About Basque Language

This letter was published back in November of 2001.

Better late than never, so, here it goes:

Euskal Editoreen Elkartea, the Association of Basque Publishers, is an organisation formed by 20 publishing houses that has been working towards promoting, structuring and strengthening the production of books in the Basque language since 1984. There are many different types of publishing houses operating in the Basque Country today, variety being one of our sector's principal characteristics, as regards both production and focus.

Nevertheless, we are all united in our conviction that our activities play a vital role in our country's cultural development. As in all modern societies, the publishing industry is a key factor in cultural and economic development, providing the tools required for the development of ideas and philosophies, as well as for the fundamental areas of research, education and training.

In the Basque Country, this is doubly true. Basque culture, including the Basque language, is a fundamental component of the society we are currently in the process of building, and the development of the publishing sector is vital to its evolution and normalisation.

This link, however, works both ways, and the difficulties and obstacles encountered by culture and language are often directly reflected in the literary and publishing sectors.

One characteristic of the publishing houses that make up the Association of Basque Publishers is that we are all involved in the publication of books in a minority language that is also one of Europe's oldest tongues. The Basque language, spoken in seven territories divided between France and Spain (Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea, Zuberoa, Araba, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Nafarroa Garaia), has, since Roman times, been subject to numerous trials and tribulations.

Nowadays, however, the Basque language is well on the road to normalisation, a circumstance that has had a profound influence on our particular sector, since the number of Basque speakers necessarily limits the expansion of the Basque literary market. Nevertheless, although the number of people capable of reading and writing in the Basque language has risen over recent years, the number of Basque speakers still accounts for only 26.6% of the population, and furthermore, we cannot assume that all Basque speakers are necessarily potential consumers in our field. In absolute terms, we are talking about only 800,000 people. Within this context, the Basque publishing industry produces around 1,400 new titles every year, more than half of which are original works rather than translations. The number of books currently on the market, however, is much greater, over 3,000,000 to be exact. As we mentioned earlier, the number of Basque speakers has a direct influence on production, and on average, each edition published runs to around only 2,000 copies.

This limitation is one of the main reasons why it is often so difficult to market Basque books and strengthen our industry's infrastructures through strategic investments.

In spite of these obstacles however, our industry has embarked on a process of professionalisation that has enabled it to rise to the challenge posed by this situation, an effort in which it has been supported by a number of Basque organisations.

The dynamism generated by professionalism is, therefore, one of the characteristics that best defines the Basque publishing sector. Dynamism implies movement and development, and these are indeed the tools used by all of us at the Association of Basque Publishers in our efforts to foster literary creation and publication, safeguard and expand our heritage, promote books and reading, strengthen the Basque literary market and disseminate our cultural wealth throughout the world. These activities, which are firmly based on the principles of variety and freedom, are a source of cultural and linguistic wealth in today's new Europe.

Indeed,there are currently 40 million minority language speakers throughout the European Union. Nevertheless, with regard to our sector in particular, it seems that some factions within Spain have set in motion a media strategy designed specifically to undermine our efforts and activities.

This is no mere series of isolated cases. Over the last few years, a number of different sections of the media have published a succession of extremely serious and totally unsubstantiated accusations, whose only possible explanation is a deep-seated desire to weaken the position of the Basque publishing industry and, by association, Basque culture and language also. In the singular sociopolitical climate of the Basque Country, it seems that certain factions wish to define the mere fact of working in favour of the Basque language and culture as somehow suspect, whereas in Europe and the rest of the world, the presence of minority languages and cultures is seen as both natural and enriching.

Over the last few weeks, for example, 21 Basque publishing houses have been accused by certain sections of the media as having links with 'ETA's financial network', despite the fact that no legal charges have ever been brought against them. The Basque publishing houses have reiterated time and time again, on the last occasion in conjunction with the Basque Ministry of Culture, that our activities are strictly confined to the creation and fostering of Basque culture, and we are not prepared to stand by and watch our good name and reputation be sullied by this underhand campaign of defamation.

Our everyday sales and publication activities provide our only source of income, and the subsidies we receive from certain Basque government institutions are granted solely on the basis of the special circumstances under which our language exists. As we at the Association of Basque Publishers have reiterated on countless occasions, we are still very much in need of industrial and fiscal assistance if we are to strengthen our infrastructures and succeed in making the Basque publishing sector a strong, competitive industry. The policy of granting subsidies to the publishing sector is not unique to the Basque Country. Many European countries (including Finland, Iceland and Norway, among others) have also implemented similar policies over recent years, but what is considered a model in those countries, is deemed highly suspect in the Basque Country.

Within this context, and in light of the extremely serious and totally unfounded accusations levelled at us by certain sections of the media, we believe that it is important for us to inform the international community (albeit briefly and somewhat superficially) of our true objectives and activities, as well as, of course, the attack under which we currently find ourselves, since the Basque publishing sector is gravely in need of the help and support of all cultural workers both in Europe and throughout the world.

Thank you for your time and interest, and please do not hesitate to contact us at the address printed below if you would like any further details or clarifications. We would also be very interested in hearing your thoughts and comments.

Euskal Editoreen Elkartea
Zurriola pasealekua 14, 1. ezk
20002 DONOSTIA (SAN SEBASTIAN)
Tel.: 34 43 292349
Fax.: 34 43 277288

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