Paper short abstract:

Basque oral improvisation is now related to youth culture, and young people can integrate youth and Basque identity in this community of Practice. And this co-construction of their identity leads, among other things, to proactive linguistic behaviors.

Paper long abstract:

The oral improvisation -or bertsolaritza- is now being recovered in the Northern Basque Country (NBC). A practice that was considered as old fashioned and that has almost disappeared in this area is now blooming again. The first attempts to tach bertsolaritza in the NBC were made in the 90's. These workshops proliferated, and some young improvisers started to improvise in public in the early 2000s. Nowadays, bertsolaritza is being taught to young people by young people. Hence, the Basque-speaking youth is more and more fans of bertsolaritza whereas the generation of their parents was not, when they were young, and bertsolaritza is now paradoxically related to youth culture.

The oral improvisers have been seen for decades as the guardians of the language as much as the transmitters of the people's voice, facing the authority. And this symbolic role is still maintained. The new young improvisers identify themselves as agents of social change as much as agents of the recovery of Basque language, and they find in the social sphere of bertsolaritza a Community of Practice where they can integrate youth and Basque identity. And this co-construction of their identity leads, among other things, to proactive linguistic behaviors.

This work is based on an ethnographic research. For five years I have been looking into linguistic practices and identities of young improvisers in the NBC, through participant observation and in-depth interviews (15 speakers between 15 and 20 years old).