Basque nationalism's changing discourse on the nation

Abstract

The discourse on the nation is one of the theoretical cores of all expressions of nationalism, but varies in its elaboration from one to another and even within one particular form of nationalism by virtue of the identifying aspects that can be used in each case, and of historical and spatial context. The article analyses the example of Basque nationalism, which, through time, has developed two great official discourses and a third non-official one related to space. In effect, given that neither of the official discourses is entirely political and territorial, contradictions arise among nationalists (in the case of all of its trends) and, in particular, in certain areas not presenting the more or less primordial and objective characteristics. At the same time, a second, more subjective, discourse, one that is extendable to all nationalists and reaffirms them in their national identity, has developed in order to overcome these contradictions.