- SEASKA and UEU have organised a conference on the Basque Country and the Basque literature, on classroom programming, in the framework of the Summer Courses in Baiona, in which Katixa Dolhare Zaldunbide will participate. He was born in Ezpeleta (Lapurdi) in 1982, and has settled with his family in Lower Navarre a dozen years ago, in the village of Banka. He carried out high-level literary studies in the classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles, at the Liceo Montaigne in Bordeaux, for two years (hypokhâgneetakhâgne), and later specialized in literature at the University Bordeaux until the Doctorate in 2010.
He spent the addition of letters in 2005 and since then he has been a professor. He has taught for eighteen years in high school and university, in both cases, as well as in the field of internal training of AEK and Seaska. Since September 2023 he has been working in full as a professor of literature at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne, in the department of Basque Studies, on the campus of Baiona.
What does literature contribute to education?
From my point of view, in the teaching of literature you can find the previous humanities, because in literature you can find history, languages, philosophy, aesthetics. What unites rigor and imagination is seriousness and humor. In my opinion, literature is the foundation of education, because it allows the hearts of young people to flourish. She is an excellent travelling companion to understand the complexity of the human being and the world.
How do Basque literature work in secondary education? This is the subject you will be working on in the course.
In secondary education, the literature has been worked differently in the different educational systems of the Basque Country. In France and Iparralde, literature is at the heart of the French program, and the French program is at the center of the entire curriculum. Literature is seen as the facilitator of a whole worldview, closely linked to history, philosophy, language and art, and is strongly worked, both academically and playfully. You don't use textbooks just in case, but you read whole books.
In Hegoalde, on the contrary, sociocommunicative objectives are priority, and the literature is relegated to the background.
In France’s language programmes (including: in the Basque language programme), the main objective is the training of speakers: literature can be considered as a tool for the development of the language, but it does not have much space in itself. Therefore, in Ipar Euskal Herria, the Basque literature has hardly any presence in secondary education. For those who love literature, which seems to us to be an example of a programme in French, this situation generates tremendous frustration.
What is the answer of the students?
High school students are not familiar with the Basque literature.
And what's the main challenge?
The secondary Basque literature: Why, what, and how to teach it?
It will be a space for sharing experiences. What would you like to get from the course?
I would like to feel the motivation to move on to action, collectively: to build a resume, to create pedagogical supports, to create a network of lecturers readers…
Do you want something to be noticed?
This session will only be a small step in a great collective work…