“Euskal kultura euskaraz baino ez da posible, ala espainolez edo frantsesez ere bai?” Bere garaian, Euskal kultura euskaraz soilik egiten dena zela arrazoitu zuen Txillardegik, azken finean euskara zelako euskal kulturaren ezaugarri bereizgarri bakarra. Aitzitik, esate baterako Ramón Zallok, Euskal kultura espainolez edo frantsesez egiten den hori ere badela defendatuko dizu, euskal nortasunak anitzak direlako. Hemen, euskararen erabilera normalduko bada, beharbada zenbait tokitan batzuetan galderari baiezko batekin eta beste zenbait tokitan ezezko batekin erantzuteko komenientzia aipatzen da.
Izan ere, liburu honetan abiapuntuko galderari baietz ala ezetz erantzun aurretik galdera bera formulatzen deneko testuinguruaz gogoeta egitea proposatzen da. Hizkuntza gutxitua daukan herri subordinatu bati dagokion testuingurua da hau. Harremanak ulertzeko modu berezia dugu subordinazioa eta, ildoan, Euskal Herrian kulturaren eta hizkuntzen arteko lotura ulertuko bada, argigarri gerta liteke herri/ gizarte, hizkuntza/identitate eta Euskal kultura/Cultura Vasca bikoteen arteko harremanaz hausnartzea.
“Basque culture is only possible in Basque, or is it also possible in Spanish or French?”. The hypothesis on the relation between the Basque culture and the languages has got two main statements: on the one hand, it says that we need to consider the conditions that provoke the formulation of the question itself. On the other hand, it states that the character of the answers given to the question will affect the development of the events. The work has been structured following four more secondary hypothesis.
The first anticipates that the culture theories could be classified basically in the light ofhe concepts of Individual, People and Society. In this chapter, we have designed a general frame based on the key concepts of People and Society. We have discussed about the consequences of using -or not using- one key or the other in the context of the nations without State, as it is the case of the Basque Country. We have underlined the need to understand Society and People not in opposition, but in a complementary relation.
The second says that the question “how can discourses on identity influence the knowledge and use of languages? is equally important to the usual “what does Basque mean to the Basque identity?”. Thus, we have claimed that the way we define Basque identity in different contexts will affect on the normalization/substitution process of the Basque language.
The third hypothesis deals with the difference between Cultura vasca/Culture basque and Euskal kultura. This one is the result of an integration process; meanwhile, Cultura vasca/Culture basque are characterized by an assimilation process. So they are not the same thing. Nevertheless, Cultura vasca/Culture basque are related to Euskal kultura: as far as they are identity discourses, depending on how they are formulated, they can be used as a tool to support “Euskal kultura” or, on the contrary, they can be used to take its place. Thus, we have considered that “qué es la cultura vasca?/Qu’est-ce que la Culture basque?” and “zer da euskal kultura” are different utterances that, accordingly, need different answers.
The fourth part consists on a qualitative research on the book production in the South Basque Country. We have compared the number of titles published in Basque and in Spanish for the last two decades . The history of Basque language substitution is also the history of Spanish/French languages expansion and we can not understand the first’s situation without taking in consideration the second’s.
