French Basque Research Articles

Continuous Measurement and Automatic Processing of In-situ Wave Impact Pressure Data

d'Amico, D.; Larroque, B.; Luthon, F.; Poncet, P.A., and Abadie, S., 2020. Continuous measurement and automatic processing of in-situ wave impact pressure data. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 214-219. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Although wave impact has been extensively studied in laboratories, field studies are comparatively rare. However, as real wave impacts are influenced by numerous environmental factors, complementing physical studies with in-situ data is necessary to better understand the processes at stake and provide reliable tools for coastal engineers. One of the main reasons for the lack of field data is the extreme conditions usually met on site. Nowadays, technology allows to set up stations able to resist those conditions and record data over long periods. In this context, the so-called Artha breakwater, in the French Basque coast, was equipped with an in-situ laboratory to record wave impact pressures. This station enables to collect long term wave impact pressure data therefore covering any weather conditions. In the present paper, the use of computer engineering based methods to process the large amount of wave impact data is described. It involves signal pre-processing, impact automatic segmentation, automatic computation of impact parameters, and artificial intelligence to classify the impacts. Impact automatic segmentation allows to have a big database of impacts available. This database has been used to make a first classification of the strongest impacts. The classification was performed thanks to the parameters automatically computed for each impact. As preliminary results for the classification, several wave impact pressure classes have been established. The approach is encouraging since the obtained results can be compared with the existing laboratory classification. However, the results can still be improved by computing other impact parameters and considering all impacts.

Women, Inheritance and Empowerment: French Basque Women’s Adaptation to Legal Systems across Spaces, Times and Places

Using archival data from three different projects, this paper intends to show that in the past 250 years, Basques of southwestern France have been confronted with a succession of three different legal systems: the unequal Customs of the Ancien Re´gime, imposing single impartible inheritance by transferring all assets to first-born male or female heirs, the egalitarian laws of the Civil Code of 1804, imposing equal partible inheritance between all siblings, male and female, and finally the free-to-choose legal system of Common Law in California where Basque immigrants transferred assets to whoever they wanted. At first glance, Basque women seem to have been treated rather fairly, especially first-born daughters. Yet looking at the data more carefully, it appears that no matter the systems, Basque women have often been treated more unequally and unfairly than men, their power and status being lower than men’s. However, across times, places and spaces, the data show that these women have used their own resources and capabilities to resist inequalities, adapt to the laws and at times acquire greater powers and status.

When genetic and surname analyses meet historical sources: The C56R mutation associated with factor XI deficiency as a marker of human migration during the Spanish Reconquista

The C56R mutation associated with factor XI deficiency has been first evidenced in individuals from the French Basque Country. Genetic investigations revealed that this mutation occurred about 5400 years ago as a founder effect in this zone. Other cases were subsequently described in Southwestern Europe. Noticeably a cluster of cases was evidenced in Yecla, a small city from the province of Murcia, in Southeastern Spain. In correlation with historical sources our genetic data and surname analysis argue for associating this mutation with the migration of people from Western Pyrenees (and more probably from the Navarra province) toward Southeastern Spain during the Reconquista period.

Tests and jaws’ morphological patterns of regular sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816) in relation to environmental conditions

This paper investigates whether morphological variability of test and Aristotle’s lantern can be detected in sea urchins exposed to domestic pollution and whether this variability can be also related to tidal level and hydrodynamic features. The study was conducted on four sites along the French Basque coast. Each site is characterized by its geological layers’ orientation, regardless of its proximity to sewage outlets. Analyses on high-resolution pictures of jaws were performed and three parameters were retained: length, height and demipyramid dry mass. Five shape descriptors were consequently defined regarding the test and the jaws. Individuals with heavy test density associated with highly developed demipyramid regarding test diameter and height were preferentially observed in intertidal areas, remoteness from treatment plants and in south-oriented geological layers. High test hemispherical indice and demipyramid elongation indice were preferentially found far away from treatment plants. Results contribute to improving knowledge on pressure impact assessment and on state of the environment conservation in a defined area. It may also be useful to propose management measures on an appropriate scale for a species that is usually managed on a regional basis.

Hydrodynamic Conditions Effects on Soft-Bottom Subtidal Nearshore Benthic Community Structure and Distribution

This study assesses the impacts of wave action and freshwater outflow on soft-bottom benthic macrofauna spatial distribution and temporal stability along the highly exposed French Basque coast. Sediment characteristics and macrofauna abundance have been seasonally investigated during two years for nine stations located at the same (6 m) depth and spread over three subtidal sites showing distinct exposure levels. Wave climate has been determined through an operational numerical model. A total of 121 taxa were recorded, gathered in three main faunal assemblages, as revealed by classification and ordination methods. Non-parametric multivariate multiple regression (distance-based linear model) showed that the variations in macrofaunal distribution can be explained by hydrodynamic conditions. Wave exposure strongly linked to estuarine inputs were the most relevant abiotic factors influencing distributional patterns and functional structure as described by biological traits analysis. Despite the influence of these abiotic variables affecting sedimentary dynamics, seasonal stability was observed in macrobenthic assemblages composition suggesting an ability to recover from natural disturbances such as (e.g.) winter storms. In this way, these results provide baseline knowledge for future ecosystem and resource management in shallow subtidal areas strongly exposed to swell and freshwater outflow where soft-bottom macrozoobenthic communities are less frequently studied.

Value Dominants of Basque Mentality in the Contemporary Media in Spain

The article discusses and interprets the Basque mentality values and their evidence in the contemporary political discourse and media. An important task of communication science and medialinguistics is the study of pragma-linguistic properties of media texts and their impact on the audience. The contemporary Spanish media feature an impressive range of sources representing and interpreting the multicultural and multi-ethnic situation in Spain, as well as ongoing socio-political and socio-economic changes. Together with the Spanish language being the official state language, the Catalan, the Galician and the Basque have been established co-official languages by the Spanish Constitution. Basque Autonomous Community, or the Basque Country, is one of the most prosperous and steadily developing Autonomous Communities of Spain, which affects the socio-political situation in the region and the discourse of political parties. A vast majority of Basque people are bilingual. The hypothesis of this study states that the contemporary reality of the Basque Country finds its reflection in value dominants of the discourse of political parties of the Basque Country. This discourse is objectified by the Mass Media rhetoric, studying which the authors determine and discuss the value dominants of Basque linguistic culture, their linguo-pragmatic features and their use in the media language, as well as their lexical, semantic, morphological and syntactic features. All this builds up the topicality of the research into pragma-linguistic parameters of media texts and mechanisms of their impact on the audience. The authors infer that the media rhetoric includes onomastic dominants (naming units of Spanish Basque Country and French Basque Country and their paraphrases, of Spain, Basque people, and the Basque language), and keywords of the Basque mentality introduced into a Spanish text in Basque. Moreover, being integral components of the discourse of political parties in the Basque Country, these linguistic means acquire and realize their cultural and symbolic potential, and reflect the mentality, values, and traditions of Basques in the modern Basque and Spanish media.

The Making of a Teen Wolf: Pierre de Lancre’s Confrontation with Jean Grenier (1603–10)

The Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et démons (Portrait of the inconstancy of evil angels and demons, 1612) by the Bordeaux magistrate Pierre de Lancre offers a famous account of a witch-hunt conducted by the author in the French Basque country in 1609. Yet it also contains a detailed description of the 1603 trial for lycanthropy of thirteen-year-old Jean Grenier, likely the youngest person ever to be convicted as a werewolf. This article systematically compares De Lancre’s Tableau with other neglected accounts. Although all of these versions are second-hand, collating them brings us closer to the original trial records and helps us make sense of Grenier’s voluntary confession. At the same time, this comparison reveals what details De Lancre chose to highlight and omit in his Tableau and therefore also offers fresh insight into the mental world of the Bordeaux judge held responsible for France’s largest witch-hunt.

Cystoseira baccata meadows along the French Basque coast (Bay of Biscay) as a reference for the implementation of the Water Framework and Marine Strategy EU directives

Cystoseira baccata, a biological quality element for the implementation of the Water Framework and Marine Strategy EU Directives, is a dominant species in the subtidal rocky bottoms of the Basque coast. As part of this issue and given the need to better understand the functional character of benthic rocky ecosystems and use them as a reference to anthropogenic changes, two samplings campaigns were conducted in 2014 and 2017. Several population parameters (i.e. frond density, frond length frond-length/total frond-length ratio and taxonomic richness of epibionts) of C. baccata were studied from three sites monitored within the Water Directive Framework in relation to bathymetry during the two campaigns. The results showed a significant influence of bathymetry on frond density, frond length and the epibiotic load, and also an effect of sampling time for the seaweed and epibionts (epiflora and epifauna). The characterization of these functional population parameters for C. baccata under natural conditions are extremely valuable for its application to monitoring programs evaluating the ecological status of coastal waters in this region.

French Basque and Béarnais trade diaspora from the Spanish Basque Country during the eighteenth century

ABSTRACTMany French Basque and Béarnais merchants, such as Antonio and Fermin Tastet, settled in the Spanish Basque Country during the eighteenth century, were able to insert themselves into the Spanish global trade network thanks to their border location, cultural similarities, smuggling experience, links to the Royal Company of Caracas (set up in 1728), and personal connections. At the same time, they provided Spanish Basque merchants and ports with their own networks developed during the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century. In Spain, they amassed their fortunes, taking advantage of pre-existing trade networks and forging new relationships spanning and interconnecting all five continents. This was made possible by the presence of Spanish and French Basque and Béarnais merchants all over the world, who formed a trade diaspora. Where no Spanish, French Basque or Béarnais agent was available, these merchants usually had recourse to foreign agents, who at the same time represented European trading companies.

A Database to Study Storm Impact Statistics along the Basque Coast

ABSTRACT Arnoux, F.,; Abadie, S.; Bertin, X.; Kojadinovic, I. 2018. A database to study storm impact statistics along the Basque Coast. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 806–810. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. A database aiming at studying storm impact on the French Basque coast and covering the period 1949–2015 is presented in this paper Wave and water level data originate from synthetic or numerical hindcast complemented by buoys or tide gauge measurements. A statistical validation of each variable and, when needed, a distribution correction of biased variables was carried out. The constructed database will be used in confrontation with an historical review of past storm damages to try to find a statistical link between the two though a damage function.

In-situ Measurements of Wave Impact Pressure on a Composite Breakwater: Preliminary Results

Larroque, B.; Arnould P.; Luthon F.; Poncet, P.A.; Rahali, A., and Abadie, S., 2018. In-situ measurements of wave impact pressure on a composite breakwater: preliminary results. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 1086–1090. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.A detached horizontally composite breakwater protecting the Saint Jean de Luz bay (French Basque Coast, Bay of Biscay, France) has been equipped with two pressure sensors displayed vertically onto the vertical wall. The two sensors recorded wave impact pressure in ten minute burst each hour at 10 kHz. In parallel, incoming waves were also recorded about 1 km off the structure with a directional wave buoy giving access to spectral wave parameters as well as raw data. Finally water level, wind magnitude and direction were also acquired. The whole dataset covers winter 2015–2016 from January to March.The results show first the statistical distribution of the measured parameters confirming preceding similar studies in which significantly lower impact pressure values were obtained compared to physical experiments or numerical simulations. A linear multivariate model has then been adjusted showing the overwhelming influence of wave heights to explain maximum pressure variability, followed by water level. Nevertheless this result has still to be confirmed for data reduced to impulsive impacts. Finally, interesting events supposedly corresponding to, or approaching flip-through impact type, have been identified and need further investigations.

A Database of Recent Historical Storm Impact on the French Basque Coast

A coastal storm damage database covering 64 years was built based on press and archives investgations. Flooding of Biarritz La Grande Plage sea front and related damages were characterized with a three level index along with binary reliability indicator. Damages to breakwaters protecting Saint Jean de Luz bay were also documented. Building such a database appeared to be extremely time consuming and also implies some limitations mainly due to the heterogeneity and incompleteness of the data sources. 30 flooding events were reported for Biarritz among which the five most destructive ones were December 28-29, 1951, November 9-10, 2010 and January 4-7, February 1-2, March 3-5, 2014. This clearly shows the extreme character of winter 2014. \textcopyright Coastal Education and Research Foundation, Inc. 2018.

Of oysters, witches, birds, and anchors: Conceptions of space and travel in Pierre de Lancre

In 1609, the Bordeaux judge Pierre de Lancre led a brutal witch-hunt in the Pays de Labourd, a territory in the south-western tip of France. In his Tableau de l’inconstance des mauvais anges et demons (1612), Lancre described this fragment of the French Basque country as a New World of sorts inhabited by barely civilized people, and an inverted image of his own land: a prosperous and peaceful estate in Sainte-Croix-des-Monts, in the wine-making region of Bordeaux. The Pays de Labourd was a place of frenzy and mobility, which made it the devil’s natural abode, and horrified Lancre, whose very name – a combination of the stone (pierre) and the anchor (ancre) – designated him as an incarnation of constancy and stability. This article explores the conceptions of space and travel at work in Lancre’s writings, and examines the personal, literary and cultural roots of his demonization of movement. Replacing the 1612 Tableau within the wider context of Lancre’s other works, it argues that Lancre’s view of the Pays de Labourd and his discourse on witchcraft was shaped to a great extent by a neo-Stoic condemnation of travel and mobility.

Gernikako Arbola, un himno huérfano

La primera interpretación documentada del Gernikako Arbola tuvo lugar en Madrid en 1853. Considerado ya en vida de su autor como himno nacional vasco, no es, en cambio, un himno nacionalista. Es un canto a la solidaridad de Álava, Guipúzcoa, Navarra y Vizcaya, pero sin cuestionar la unidad de España. Ha contado con una difusión extraordinaria también en las provincias vasco-francesas de Baja Navarra, Labort y Sola, así como en las colectividades vascas del exterior. Por razones opuestas, ha sido rechazado por sectores del navarrismo y del nacionalismo vasco. El universalismo y el pacifismo que rezuma el Gernikako Arbola lo diferencian de otros himnos patrióticos.

Behind the Legend of Miguel Leonis

Californios, the Spanish-speaking natives and landed gentry of early California, perceived themselves as victims of Anglo-American repression after California's annexation in 1848. In Los Angeles, particularly between 1865 and 1890, the deterioration of the Californio families and their ultimate loss of land and status form a poignant narrative in the social history of the state. The three recognized racial designations that dominated the period were Mexican, Anglo, and Native Indian, but more recent studies reveal that the construction of Los Angeles' cultural and political identity during the 1800s also included other ethnic groups. However, the contributions and impact of prominent French Basques on the growth of Los Angeles are often excluded from the historiography. Remarkably, in the San Fernando Valley, wealthy French Basque rancheros lived as Californios and altered the established Californio profile. Unique among them was Miguel Leonis, a wealthy rancho owner who successfully existed as both a landed Californio and an Anglo encroacher.

Natural Anaplasmataceae infection in Rhipicephalus bursa ticks collected from sheep in the French Basque Country

Rhipicephalus bursa is one of 79 species of the genus Rhipicephalus in the family of Ixodidae. In this study, we investigated Anaplasmataceae bacteria associated with R. bursa collected after an epizootic outbreak of ovine anaplasmosis. 76 adult ticks, (60 male and 16 female ticks), were removed from sheep in two farms and all identified as R. bursa, all females were partially engorged. We found that 50% of the ticks were positive in the initial Anaplasmataceae qPCR screening. Bacterial species was identified by analyzing the sequences of amplicons of 23S rRNA, groEL and rpoB genes. 22.4% of ticks contained DNA of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and 7.9% the DNA of Anaplasma ovis. Based on 23S rRNA and groEL genes analysis, we found that 19.7% of ticks contained a potentially new species of Ehrlichia. We propose the status of Candidatus for this uncultured species and we provisionally name it Candidatus Ehrlichia urmitei. No Wolbachia were identified. These results show that R. bursa can be a carrier of Anaplasmataceae bacteria.

Readers’ Emotions: A Plurilingual Perspective

This article focuses on the differential emotional power of languages in the book-reading practices of plurilingual readers. Within a plurilingual perspective, it aims at adding nuance to the “emotional contexts of learning hypothesis” and the “theory of language embodiment”. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews with 24 adult plurilingual readers living in Catalonia, Ile-de-France, French Basque Country, and western Switzerland. Some of the participants indicate that they have felt intense emotions while reading in languages they did not learn and do not use in highly emotional contexts. It can be inferred that cultural goods consumption, among other factors, may affect the emotional force of languages. Difficulties expressed by participants in feeling intense emotions or in appreciating books in family languages that are dominated languages – according to Bourdieu’s conception of dominant and dominated languages – suggest that sociolinguistic inequalities may also be of crucial importance in reading-language emotionality.

Searching for Ramuntcho: foreign filmmakers in the French Basque Country

Searching for Ramuntcho: foreign filmmakers in the French Basque Country

En busca de Ramuntcho: cineastas extranjeros en el País Vasco-francés

Since the earliest days of the cinema, the French Basque Country has been a place of pilgrimage for great filmmakers from different nations. Since the XIX century Romantic travellers and intellectuals had portrayed it as an exotic, timeless and differentiated topos. Following in their wake the cinema, with its immense capacity for symbolic representation, contributed to popularizing a mythical image of Basqueness, an image that was finally even adopted by the inhabitants of the place themselves. Through an historical analysis of three documentaries made by three great directors and produced in three European countries in the first half of the XX century, this article sets out to describe the filmic origin of that often hegemonic Basque imaginary based on a rural arcadia, understand how it was produced and highlight the different readings made of it; thus reaffirming the complex polysemy of that image of Basqueness.

Euskal toponimia, baserrien izenak eta deituren ondarea, Gizarte-Zientziak ikasteko abiapuntu. Bigarren hezkuntzarako proposamena

El artículo presenta una propuesta de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las Ciencias Sociales para Educación Secundaria, tomando como punto de partida los apellidos vascos que tienen su origen en el nombre del caserío, es decir, la casa tradicional de las provincias de Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, norte de Álava y de Navarra y el País Vasco Francés. En época difícil de determinar los terrenos comunales comenzaron a privatizarse, adoptando la forma de parcelas circulares. La documentación en romance los denomina seles, un vocablo de origen prerromano y en euskara han dado lugar a una serie de topónimos, algunos de los cuales pasaron a nombrar al caserío que se construyó en los mismos. Y los que habitaron en dichos caseríos lo adoptaron como patronímico. En la propuesta se ofrecen una serie de herramientas histórico-geográficas asequibles en Internet y se sugieren actividades para que el alumnado construya un conocimiento socio histórico conectado con su propia realidad.