euskalkultura.eus

La Plata, Argentina.  Both talks took place in the College of Economic Science at the UNLP on Tuesday of last week, May 29.  Jon Ramos went first with his talk entitled, “Nire biotzeko aita…la presencia del Euskara en el epistolario de la familia Mendizabal Gorostizu,” (My dear farther… the presence of Basque in the correspondence of the Mendizabal Gorostizu family.) Victor Mendizabal, from Gipuzkoa, and other members of his family emigrated from the Basque Country to Argentina to settle in La Plata.

They were a family of humble extraction, although in time they became better off.  Years later, Victor Mendizabal came to financially support young people from his hometown in their studies. 

As a result of the family’s migration, more than one hundred letters crossed the Atlantic.  It was precisely this correspondence that Jon Ander Ramos chose as the theme for his talk in La Plata treating the maintenance of the Basque language with his father and the family left in the Basque Country.

Following Oscar Alvarez Gila changed hemispheres with his talk entitled, “Basque immigrants to the US through the eyes of Hollywood:  Stereotypes, prejudices and misconceptions.”  During his talk Alvarez Gila addressed the image and the different archetypes that the American film world made of Basque immigrants providing data and a very curious interpretation of the subject.

The talks generated an interesting debate and questions from the audience, according to event organizer Idurre Lekuona, Basque Language and Culture lecturer at UNLP.