Phantasmatic Othering: Basque Identity and Violence under the Spanish (Post)imperialist Gaze

Abstract: Terrorism and immigration have constituted the hegemonic discourse in Spain over the past few decades. Currently, Spanish (post)imperial ideology responds to the political crisis arising from social heterogeneity—i.e., immigration and regional nationalisms—and the integration of new groups and economic interests stemming from global neoliberal capitalism. In this context, peripheral identities—such as those of the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia—continue to undergo a process of imperial othering perpetuated by dominant cultural and political discourses. This work will examine, within the framework of the Basque Country, the resulting tension between the creation of a regional identity through literary and media production and the cultural acts of denial carried out by the Spanish foundational nationalist discourses. The cultural products will include written works— Lo difícil es perdonarse a uno mismo (Rekarte, 2015) and Intxaurrondo (Arretxe, 2015)—and visual media— Ocho apellidos vascos OAV (Martínez Lázaro, 2014) and La línea invisible (Portela, 2020). The outcome will demonstrate that only a sociocultural and political perspective, one that transcends both the (post)imperial Spanish gaze and the archetypal Basque separatist militancy, can facilitate new intercommunal solidarities in post-E.T.A. Basque society, which are essential to the formation of liberated Basque identities.