INTRODUCTION
I. SOCIOCULTURAL REALITY AND PRESENT-DAY BERTSOLARITZA
1. The environment in which bertsolaritza finds itself: the basque-speaking (euskaldun) community
2. Sociocultural relevance of bertsolaritza within this basque-speaking community
III. THE PROCESS OF CREATING
IMPROVISED BERTSOS
IV. PROPOSALS FOR A THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2 Sociocultural
relevance of bertsolaritza within this
Basque-speaking community
Bertsolaritza
is a living art form within the cultural activity of the Basque language.
The sociological analysis carried out in 1993(18)
provide an overall view of the reality of bertsolaritza and of its place
in our linguistic community: 15% of Basque speakers class themselves as
great lovers of bertsolaritza, 35% say they are aficionados and 28% state
they are attracted to the artistic activity in some way – a total
of 78%. Even though the sociological study was carried out at a crucial
moment in the popularity of bertsolaritza, it is useful as a barometer
for the widespread social acceptance of the artistic activity.
The study concludes that this passion for bertsolaritza, reflected by the survey, can be represented by three concentric circles at the centre of which is a strong nucleus which guarantees future generations of people actively involved (bertsolaris, theme-presenters, critics, judges, teachers, organisers, aficionados) for the future of this expression of oral culture.
This solidity of what bertsolaritza actually means within society is not due to chance happening. It has, on the one hand, a historical base, given that bertsolaritza has played an important part in Basque cultural activity. But, on the other, it is due to the efforts of renewal carried out over the past 20 years by the bertsolaris, and through their socio-cultural strategy in which a whole generation of bertsolaris, aficionados and organisers who have collectively guided the artistic activity over the past 12 years.