The Basque Language in the Novel Patria by Fernando Aramburu

Abstract

This article analyses the presence of the Basque language in the novel Patria, by Fernando Aramburu, best seller of the year 2016. Aramburu, as is well known, writes in Spanish, but in this novel, as in other previous works, he introduces, on the one hand, words or phrases in Basque with a certain intentionality, and on the other, references and reflections (of the author himself and, above all, of the characters) on the Basque language. Both are the object of study of this work. The final part of the article includes the correction of errors in the glossary at the end of the novel, a glossary (we quote verbatim) of «words and idioms derived from the Basque language». In some cases, errors lie in the definition, and in others, in the fact that some of the words do not come from the Basque language.