The Basques and Announcement of a Publication

Center for Basque Studies Basque Classics Series, No. 9 Selected Basque Writings: The Basques and Announcement of a Publication Wilhelm von Humboldt With an Introduction by Iñaki Zabaleta Gorrotxategi Translated by Andreas Corcoran Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada This book was published with generous financial support obtained by the Association of Friends of the Center for Basque Studies from the Provincial Government of Bizkaia. Basque Classics Series, No. 9 Series Editors: William A. Douglass, Gregorio Monreal, and Pello Salaburu Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 http://basque.unr.edu Copyright © 2013 by the Center for Basque Studies All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Cover and series design © 2013 by Jose Luis Agote Cover painting: “Aurresku ante la Iglesia” [Aurresku in front of Church] by José Arrúe. © Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa–Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1767-1835. Selected basque writings : the Basques and announcement of a publication / Willhelm von Humboldt with an Introduction by Inaki Zabaleta Gorrotxategi ; translated by Andreas Corcoran. pages cm. -- (Basque classics series, no. 9) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “Classic texts on the Basque people and language by the German man of letters Wilhelm von Humboldt with a new scholarly introduction to his Basque works”-- Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-935709-44-2 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-935709-45-9 (cloth) 1. Basques--History. 2. Basques--Social life and customs. 3. Basque language I. Title. GN549.B3H85 2013 305.899’92--dc23 2013036442 Contents Note on Basque Orthography ...................................... vii Introduction: Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Basques Iñaki Zabaleta Gorrotxategi ................................ ix Introduction Bibliography .......................................... xxxix Selected Basque Writings of Wilhelm von Humboldt The Basques Introduction....................................................... 5 Donibane Lohizune............................................... 15 Hendaia and Hondarribia........................................ 25 Pasaia.............................................................. 31 Donostia-San Sebastián .......................................... 37 Zarautz and Getaria .............................................. 49 Zumaia, Deba, Mutriku, Ondarroa, and Markina ............. 63 Vitoria-Gasteiz.................................................... 75 Durango........................................................... 97 Bilbao ............................................................. 113 Somorrostro....................................................... 121 Portugalete, Plentzia, Bermeo, and Mundaka . 127 Gernika ........................................................... 131 Return to Baiona through Lekeitio, Azkoitia, Azpeitia, Hernani, Oiartzun, and Irun ................................. 143 The French Basque Country...................................... 149 Announcement of a Publication Regarding the Basque Language and the Basque Nation............................................... 165 Index................................................................... 175 Note on Basque Orthography The standard form to refer to the Basque language today is Euskara. Most English-language texts on the Basque Country have traditionally employed only the French and Spanish orthographic renderings of Basque place names. Here, in light of the standard Basque orthographic renderings of these same place names by the Basque Language Academy (Euskaltzaindia), we will endeavor to use these Basque versions, with an addition in parentheses of the French or Spanish equivalents on first men- tion in each chapter. Some exceptions to this rule include the use of Navarre (Nafarroa in Basque, Navarra in Spanish) and Lower Navarre (Nafarroa Beherea in Basque, Basse Navarre in French); the hyphenated bilingual cases of Donostia-San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz, and Iruñea-Pamplona; and occasions where French or Spanish place name variants are used to make a linguistic point. In the latter case, the Basque equivalents appear in parentheses after the French or Spanish place name. Additionally, on occasion we anglicize certain Basque terms, rather than use the original Basque, French, or Spanish terms themselves. Thus, for example, inhabitants of Zuberoa (Soule), instead of being rendered as zuberotarrak or xiberotarrak (from the Basque alternative Xiberoa), or Souletines (in French), are described here as Zuberoans. Occasionally, Humboldt cites words and phrases in Basque to make a point. We have preserved his original renderings, but where applicable added the standard modern Basque variants of these words and phrases in parentheses. For longer phrases—proverbs and sayings for example— we have maintained the original orthography. It should be noted that, for much of the period under study here, there was little consistency in the rendering of either place names or per- sonal names in any of these languages; a fact of life that is apparent in a region of Europe where multiple cultures and identities overlap. We see such lack of consistency as a more flexible way of appreciating this diversity. Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Basques Iñaki Zabaleta Gorrotxategi Wilhelm von Humboldt, the older brother of the renowned geographer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, was born in Potsdam, Prussia, on June 22, 1767 and died in Tegel, near Berlin, on April 8, 1835. Dur- ing Humboldt’s lifetime the philosophy of Immanuel Kant emerged and became widespread. A contemporary of other great German idealists and romantics, Humboldt, however, developed his own relatively inde- pendent line of thinking on the basis of a moderate critique of Kantian formalism, idealistic speculation, and romantic exaggeration. Wilhelm von Humboldt is in fact the most prominent representative of Germany’s Neohumanist movement, given that he ofered the most vigorous defense of a theory of human education based on the individual (Bildung), a theory that had important practical implications in a wide variety of fields. It is within this humanistic context that he conducted his research on the Basques and their language, and produced the two studies that are presented in this book. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of the fact that Humboldt was not an academic in the traditional sense. Instead, he was a practical man, something that can be seen even in his theorizing. This trait gives both his life and work an unmistakably constructive character. His anthropological thinking, for example, does not address unsolvable questions such as the definition of human “essential being,” but instead focuses primarily on “real becoming.” Through an interest in a wide range of human and social sciences, Humboldt continually sought to increase his anthropological knowledge; yet such knowledge was always put at the service of providing mileposts for individual development. His conceptualization of linguistics was similar. Specifically, his theory of language is based on the practical research of languages, and is oriented toward the educational practices of individual human beings. Humboldt x Selected Basque Writings thus combined theoretical-philosophical studies on language and practical-theoretical research on languages, ever mindful of the fact that the educational development of human beings cannot ignore—and indeed to a large extent depends on—their linguistic development. Humboldt’s political thought was not limited to the reflections of an ivory-tower academic. Humboldt is in fact remembered for his political activity on behalf of the Prussian state. As the Prussian minister of education he founded the University of Berlin, advocated educational reform, and proposed a new constitution. The political commitments of Humboldt were in fact firmly grounded in his humanism—a humanism that led him to reflect upon both the limits of state action and the importance of the nation on human development. What we therefore see in Humboldt is a man who thought so that he could act, and whose thinking was in turn driven by action. Thus, all of his theoretical reflections arose within the frame of reference of an anthropology that aimed to be humanizing in the truest sense of the word. Humboldt’s interest in the Basques can only be fully understood within the context of his humanistic approach. Thus, his travels within the Basque Country and his research on the Basque nation and its language can be seen as constituting a part of an anthropological project of far greater scope. This is something that is reflected in the two texts presented in this book: Die Vasken, oder Bemerkungen auf einer Reise durch Biscaya und das französische Basquenland im Frühling des Jahrs 1801 (The Basques, or Observations on a Journey through Bizkaia and the French Basque Country in the Spring of 1801, 1805; hereafter, The Basques) and Ankündigung einer Schrift über die Vaskische Sprache und Nation, nebst Angabe des Gesichtspunctes und Inhalts derselben (Announcement of a Publication on the Basque Language and Nation, Amid an Outline of the Perspective and Content of the Same, 1812; hereafter Announcement of a Publication).1 For these reasons, the present introduction attempts to ofer answers to a number of important questions. Why was Humboldt interested in the Basques? What did Humboldt’s research on the

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