The Art of Bertsolaritza: Improvised Basque Verse Singing
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The art of bertsolaritza Improvised basque verse singing Andoni Egaña Joxerra Garzia | Jon Sarasua Andoni Egaña Jon Sarasua The art of bertsolaritza | Oral expression has acquired an importance that is crucial for the communication processes that form part of what is known as the Information Society. One of the most genuine forms of oral expression, the improvised singing of Basque bertsolaris or verse singers, Joxerra Garzia has shown an ability to adapt to the new circumstances and > make itself an alternative information circuit which currently enjoys an important presence in the media and great prestige socially. This book is about the complex reality of this phe- nomenon of oral improvisation which we call bertsolaritza. It opens with a critical appraisal of the sociocultural featu- res of current bertsolaritza and outlines the challenges th- rown up and the opportunities afforded by its adaptation to new winds of change. Following on from this, there is a de- The art of bertsolaritza tailed description of the mental processes involved in the cre- ation of the improvised bertso and of the strategies and limitations therein. Finally, after outlining the inadequacies of current Bertsozale theoretical approaches to bertsolaritza as an oral art and the Elkartea consequent need for a differentiated analytical methodology for improvised bertsolaritza, an argument is made for the use of classical rhetoric as an appropriate theoretical framework B B ertsolari for this improvised art form. liburuak Photo: Juantxo Egaña Joxerra, Jon and Andoni JOXERRA GARZIA GARMENDIA (Legazpi, 1953). After graduating in philosophy and journalism, he obtained a docto- rate in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising in 1999 with his thesis, Gaur egun- go bertsolarien baliabide poetiko-erretorikoak (The poetic-rhetorical resources of modern bertsolaris). His professional career in bertsolaritza started with a radio programme on Euskadi Irratia (1983-1988) and later, at the request of the Bertsozale Elkartea, he beca- me creator, director and host of the TV programme Hitzetik Hortzera on Euskal Telebista (1988-1993). A jury member at many championships, he has brought a significant body of work of critical analysis to bertsolaritza through articles and essays. He is currently lecturing on Advertising at the Basque University and he is a member of the team wor- king on a method of developing orality in schools. He is author of stories and poems and has received a number of awards. He was President of the Basque Writers’ Association from 1993 to 1997. JON SARASUA MARITXALAR (Aretxabaleta, 1966). Bertsolari. He studied journalism and sociology in Bilbao. In 1996 he got his doctorate with the thesis, Bi begiratu euskarazko kazetari hizkerari (Two approaches to journalistic language in the Basque language). He is currently lecturing in the History of Thought at Mondragon University. His articles have been published by Argia, Jakin and Bertsolari magazines and in the daily Euskaldunon Egunkaria newspaper. He is co-author, with Andoni Egaña, of Zozoak beleari (1997), an original paper on current ber- tsolaritza. That same year he published the treatise, Biziaren hizkuntzaz: Txepetxekin sola- sean, on the sociology of the language. He is an Executive Member of Bertsozale Elkartea and the instigator of much of the research carried out into modern bertsolarismo. ANDONI EGAÑA MAKAZAGA Born in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa) in 1961. Bertsolari. He studied Basque language at the University of the Basque Country in Gasteiz. Winner of the National Championships in 1993 and 1997. His professional career involves bertsolaritza, writing articles and tele- vision scripts. His articles have been collected in a book (Aitaren batean, 1990), and he has published a collection of children’s stories (Sokratikoek ere badute ama, 1989), a series of letters (Zozoak beleari, 1997), and a novel (Pausoa noiz luzatu, 1998). He has been an Executive Member of Bertsozale Elkartea (1995-2000) and is currently working on a method of developing orality in schools. Together with Jon Sarasua and Joxerra Gar- zia, he is one of the main theoreticians of modern bertsolarismo. The art of bertsolaritza Improvised Basque verse singing Joxerra Garzia Jon Sarasua Andoni Egaña Editor: Joxerra Garzia The art of bertsolaritza Improvised Basque verse singing Bertsozale Elkartea B B ERTSOLARI liburuak The publication of this book has beer made possible with the help of the Department INDEX of the Provincial Government of Bizkaia … Introduction 13 1 Historical antecedents. Myth or reality in improvised bertsolaritza 17 2 The transformation of bertsolaritza in the xx century: the dominance of the improvised bertso 21 © Andoni Egaña, Joserra Garzia and Jon Sarasua 3 Objectives of this book 29 © Fron cover and design: Txema Garzia Urbina © Bertsozale Elkartea, 2001 Igeldo Pasealekua 25 - 20008 - Donostia www.bertsozale.com I Sociocultural reality and present-day bertsolaritza 33 © Bertsolari Liburuak, 2001 Gudarien Etorbidea Z/g. Parke Kulturala - 20040 - Andoain 1 The environment in which bertsolaritza finds itself: Tf: 943 300 621 the basque-speaking (euskaldun) community 15 www.bertsolari.net IBSN: 84-95697-05-X 2 Sociocultural relevance of bertsolaritza within this IBSN: 84-89283-26-5 basque-speaking community 36 Registered: NA. ????-2001 Printed by: Gráficas Lizarra, S.L., Estella 3 Bertsolaritza today 38 3.1 Spectacle or public performance 38 3.2 Contests and championships 42 3.3 Group entertainment at an informal level: bertsolaritza workshops or schools 43 3.4 Bertsolaritza: its content and its practice in statutory education 44 a) Development of personal skills 45 b) Engagement of pupils with their cultural heritage 45 c) Complementary enhancement of linguistic competence 46 d) Complementary enhancement of musical competence 46 3.5 Sub-genre in the media 46 II Achieving a balance amongst the challenges facing bertsolaritza: keys to the creativity of the tradition 49 1 Some revealing features 51 1.1 Total absence of mass production 51 1.2 Public participation and the vital importance of feedback 52 1.3 The nature of live performance in a public area and b) External conditions 113 group participation. 54 3 The soul of bertsolaritza-improvised oral confrontation 114 1.4 Integrated nature of the audience 55 3.1 General strategic possibilities in improvised oral 1.5 Accessibility of the bertsolari: economic self-sufficiency confrontation 115 and modesty 57 3.2 Practical example-2: “The worker and the housewife” 118 2 What does the bertsolari sing? 57 3.3 Practical example-3: “The debate about wind farms” 124 3 Achieving a balance amongst the challenges. What are roots for? 62 3.4 Improvised oral confrontations without an imposed theme 132 3.1 Appreciation of what is of value in one’s own tradition 62 3.2 Choosing to survive through adaptation 62 IV Proposals for a theoretical framework 135 3.3 Daring to evolve 64 1 The dead-end analysis of oral art in terms of written poetics 138 4 Three keys for development 65 1.1 Text as a pretext 139 4.1 Attitudes of self-confidence 66 1.2 The text in context: co-text and situation 143 4.2 Transmission from generation to generation 67 a) Co-textual factors 146 4.3 Organisational self-management: Bertsozale Elkartea 70 b) Situational factors 154 a) General characteristics of the organisation 70 b) Bertsogintza and bertsolaritza: the artistic approach 2 Enchantment by ...Butlack of charm of the oralist theory 159 2.1 Orality in writing 162 and the organisational approach 71 2.2 Literature in orality 164 c) The foundations of bertsolaritza as a cultural project 72 d) Self-management of bertsolaritza: a model for social action a) Formulas in present-day bertsolaritza 166 b) Intellectual experimentation 171 cultural initiatives 74 c) Distancing 173 e) Opening up to the outside world 75 d) Performance 177 3 A new theoretical framework for improvised bertsolaritza 178 III The process of creating improvised bertsos 79 3.1 Improvised bertsolaritza as a rhetorical genre 178 1 Formal aspects 83 3.2 Bertsolaritza and the five canons of rhetoric 181 1.1 The melodies 83 3.3 Inventio in improvised bertsolaritza 183 1.2 Metre 84 3.4 Dispositio and improvised bertsolaritza 189 1.3 Rhyme 93 a) Dispositio in discourses of a single bertso 189 2 Principal strategy in the construction of the improvised bertso 101 b) Dispositio in discourses of two or more bertsos 198 2.1 General strategy: the sting in the tail 103 3.5 Elocutio: the poetic function in improvised bertsolaritza 201 2.2 Practical example-1: “The dilemna of designer drugs” 104 a) Poetic-rhetorical resources 205 2.3 A number of exceptions 110 b) Limits to poetic strategy 208 a) Internal conditions 111 c) Resources exclusive to bertsolaritza 210 d) Poetics and rhetoric 213 e) Practical example-4: “Hunger in africa” 215 f) Practical example-5: “The scars of war” 218 3.6 Memory and improvised bertsolaritza 220 a) Memory: its mnemotechnic nature and function 222 b) Memory and memorability 223 c) Memory as a data base 224 d) Memory and psychology 225 3.7 Actio and improvised bertsolaritza 227 3.8 Final point 231 … Glossary 237 … INTRODUCTION To date, and almost without exception, bertsolaritza has been considered as a sub-genre of Basque popular literature. Basque literature, as such, also referred to as written or Basque literary culture, is, or at least has been until the beginnings of the XX century, scant and seen as anachro- nistic and purely secondary. | …On the other hand, as Luis Michelena well points out, Basque popular literature, essentially oral, is probably as rich and varied as that of any other people¡. Nevertheless, the title “Basque popular literature” is a form of pigeon- holing of anything that has not fitted into the classification of written lite- rature2. Basque popular literature is thus identified by the heterogeneity of genres and expressions which it manifests.