Bloody shadows of historical characters
Our heroes. The book published by Axier López, journalist of ARGIA, has a history by title of Elkano and the colonialists of the Basque Country. The author comes to say that the time has come for a decolonal look, because the time so demands. On the one hand, the Black Lives Matter movement has led people to globally review local “heroes” with state demolitions and street redenominations. With this anti-racist context, the book begins and ends.
In the intermediate chapters, however, a review is made of recent events on the occasion of the anniversary of the Elkano World Tour. Words and images of Elkano have also been investigated. But Elkano is not the only Basque colonizer, and so in another chapter “our colonialists” and “our slaves” are rejoiced. The list is long and the names known. It is very clear to whom we pay tribute in the squares, buildings and streets of our peoples.
The objective of the author is to highlight what has been concealed or fought so far: the Basque Country also has a colonialist and enlightened past to be discussed from a critical perspective, “to help build a collective consciousness according to the needs of the moment” (Josep Fontana i Lázaro).
To do this, he makes an analysis of the existing discourses and informs us of some clichés that are used to guarantee hegemonic discourses and to belittle alternative discourses: to use “presenteeism”, to remove the memory or to say that he acted according to the time, for example.
In addition, Elcano, Urdaneta, Legazpi... explains his participation in the service of the Spanish Empire: “XVI. At the end of the twentieth century we know that between 7 and 9 thousand men entered each year in convoys going to the 'Indies', more than half of them Basques. Most of the crew members of the armies of the warships were Basque.” Instead of building
a history of glory and Hollywood heroes based on power relations, we are being proposed to become aware of the privileges that being white from the global North gives us and to develop a critical memory to live in a fairer future. The book is completed with the Colonialism channel on the ARGIA website.
Lighting
Miriam Luki
Susa, 2023
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Translations
Miren Agur Meabe
Elkar, 2023
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Last year, Miren Agur Meabe published the novel Itzulerak. As the main characters are young people, we could say that it is juvenile literature, but when literature is good, it is for... [+]
Text:
Ilan Brenman
Illustrations: Guilherme Karsten
translation: In Alkain
Denonartean, 2024
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At the end of this album is a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “There has never been a good war, nor a bad peace.” And... [+]
Pozo
Goiatz Labandibar
Erein, 2024
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The Pozo de Goiatz Labandibarren is a growth novel that takes place one day: the descent of menstruation. Or in other words, a hero's journey, why not.
As often happens in this... [+]
Sorry as if there were no
Mariana Travacio
Erein, 2024
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Although the title may seem like a self-help book, this is a Western text that Erein has published in the narrative section. In the excellent translation of... [+]
Josefa, neskame
Alaitz Melgar Agirre
Elkar, 2022
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Josefa Agirre Etxeberria was one of the women who was raised during the Franco regime. After being exiled at the age of fourteen, he was forced to change his residence... [+]
In the maze of
the theatre I Ander
Lipus EHAZE and Susa
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Playwright Ander Lipus has published with EHAZE and Susa his publications on theatrical autobiography and theatre. In the maze of theatre I. Notebook of Bitácora and... [+]
-It was an ordinary afternoon. For anglerfish.” This evening is what Maite Mutuberria tells us in this album. The book has very few texts and the images tell us very well the development of history.
From the beginning we can see in the illustrations a large and quiet... [+]
The one who approaches this book, first of all, will be with G. It meets the images of Mabire. They are comic style images, very accurate strokes and celestial experiences that help to easily interpret characters and situations. These images coincide with the text, which is... [+]
For a matter of work, I had to reread this wonderful book. A short book that brings together feminist theory, genealogy and history, and that will surely have a lot of criticism looking on the net and, surprise! I found one, which Irati Majuelo wrote in Berria.El book published... [+]
The book just published by the editorial Consonni has been a great surprise to the public. I did not know the work of Montserrat Roig and the finding has been truly surprising. On the one hand, because the novel was first published in a little more than the death of Franco (in... [+]
The report of a Basque cow was published by Bernardo Atxaga in 1991. The book has had a long history and success in both Basque and other languages. One of Germany's best-selling books was J. The British editor Eccleshare considered it a work to be read in the early years in... [+]
Spring is usually a promise of a cold winter nose that can come after the landing, and has been annotated several times for sleep. Promise, however, is never a safe spring in a ruined terrain. Not at least if we are talking about change or, in particular, revolution. Maddi... [+]
It all started on a field trip with her cousin and her husband. They went to dinner and didn't go home. The protagonist went out to look for them and found a wall. From there, the wall does not let him move forward and sees two characters frozen as dead. Beyond the wall death... [+]