Anthology of Apologists and Detractors of the Basque Language (Paperback)

by Juan Madariaga Orbea (2006).

Translated by Frederick H. Fornoff, María Cristina Saavedra, Amaia Gabantxo, and Cameron J. Watson.

A thorough introduction is followed by texts from numerous authors presenting arguments on the excellence or inferiority of the Basque language. “From the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries . . . a number of Spanish and French authors made it their business to point out the barbarity and lack of literary development of the Basque language . . . On the other hand, the Basque apologists sought to legitimize the [language and foral system] through the creation of a construct, more or less mythical in essence, which with great frequency relied on the excellence of the Basque language for its justification . . . This anthology attempts to present the most important works of this secular polemic.”

704 pages. Paper, $29.95 (ISBN 1-877802-62-X).