Power and alterity

Depictions of the Vascones from antiquity to the middle ages

Bibliographic Data

ID11204362
AuthorsAsier H Aguirresarobe (0000-0003-1661-6187, University of the Basque Country, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume48
Issue2
Pages309-329
Publication date2024-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Science History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0145-5532 • E-ISSN: 1527-8034
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/ssh.2024.8
OpenAlexW4392661520
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

This article undertakes an examination of the origins and evolution of a discourse of alterity against the Vascones –the alleged forefathers of the Basques – and other Western Pyrenean peoples from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The methodology employed involves the study of literary references made to these peoples, which are then compared to recent scholarly and archeological evidence. Through this analysis, it becomes possible to evaluate the accuracy of these mentions and interpret them within their specific historical context. The results of this research indicate that mentions of the Vascones during this timeframe were mainly polemic in nature and lacked substantial grounding in empirical reality. Instead, it seems that the underlying objective of these narratives of alterity was twofold: to enhance the social and political standing of their authors and to support their claims to political control over the Western Pyrenees. The abandonment of these interpretative repertoires during the tenth century, coinciding with the emergence of the kingdom of Pamplona and the county-duchy of Wasconia, further emphasizes the connection between the display of these tropes and imbalances in political power between the region and its neighbors. The conclusions of this article directly challenge the underpinnings of discourses that depict the ancient Vascones as entirely alien to the political and religious paradigms derived from the Roman and Christian traditions. In so doing, it thus confront narratives about these “ancient Basques” that are prevalent in contemporary Basque cultural production

Alterity · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ethnology · Literature · Middle Ages · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Anthropology · Basque language and culture studies · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy

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