“Fish and Trees Are Alike”: The Movement of Identity in Kirmen Uribe’s Bilbao–New York–Bilbao

Abstract

This article explores the role translation has played in the circulation and promotion of Basque writer Kirmen Uribe’s first novel Bilbao–New York–Bilbao (2008). By examining the response both in and outside of the Basque Country, the article shows how particular views of literature within the Basque Country have influenced the work’s reception. In particular, drawing from political theories on community formation, it highlights the way art and literature are represented in the novel as spaces in which Basque artist-citizens have the right to participate in the nonviolent creation of their collective reality and to exchange and inspire ideas on the global stage. The article argues that Uribe’s novel promotes a productive view of Basque identity as always in movement, and therefore it is not exclusively tied to previous generations and their more violent means of protecting Basque culture.