In 1915, San Sebastian City Council set up the Euskal Iztundea group. It was the cradle of modern Basque-speaking theatre, and Katalina Eleizegi (San Sebastian, 1889 – Estella, 1963) is regarded as the mother of it. The philologist Amaia Alvarez has paid this prolific author a well-deserved tribute through a thesis defended at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and entitled Generoa eta nazioa Katalina Eleizegiren antzezlanetan (Gender and nation in the drama works of Katalina Eleizegi). "One of my aims was to revive her memory and make her work known," says Alvarez. What is more, she has devoted special attention to a historical play based on the life of Catalina de Erauso which Eleizegi wrote out but never had published and which is entitled Erauso Kateriñe. The thesis includes an edition of this manuscript.
Eleizegi based herself on classical composition when it came to writing plays, since she divided them into three parts and resorted to historical drama as a genre. But she was not at all traditional as far as the subjects were concerned: she opted for content that was particularly relevant at the time, and through the characters contributed much to the image of the Basque woman. This is one of the cornerstones of the thesis. "The writers in her day used to portray women among their characters and protagonists, but mainly in the role of mothers, linked to cultural transmission and, of course, in the role of model Christian women. Those of Eleizegi were also model Christian women, but they were not restricted to the role of mother. She portrayed a different image of women: young, with independent minds, capable of taking decisions, and without any qualms when it came to fulfilling their desires," explains the researcher.
San Sebastian
As Álvarez points out, there are two different periods in Eleizegi's career: San Sebastian and Estella (Navarre) which was where she spent the second half of her life (nearly 30 years until her death).
Corresponding to the San Sebastian period are the works Garbiñe (1916), Loreti (1918), Gaine (1929) and Yatsu (1934). All four were published, and apart from Gaine, were all staged and received awards. Garbiñe was in fact the most popular of all of Eleizegi's works. As the researcher explains, in these manuscripts she portrayed women who were not at all archetypical: witches, poor women, old women, conceited ones… She also dealt with the traditional image of the Basque woman, so her works depict these two opposing points of view.
Nevertheless, Eleizegi's works in this period were linked, above all, to the development of a national Basque identity. This is their main feature. "The authors at that time promoted the doctrine of Sabino Arana, and so did she, but in a more personal way. She defended the suppressed rights of the Basques, mainly from the language perspective," explains Alvarez.
Estella
Eleizegi wrote three works during her Estella period: Brujaseko harilkia (1960), Erauso Kateriñe (1962) and Roldan (1963, unfinished at her death). "She had the works of the first period (San Sebastian) published, and she was prominent in Basque culture. But not in the second," says the researcher. In fact, she stayed in a convent and later at the house of a childless couple and hardly ever went out. However, although these works were not published, Erauso Kateriñe at least was performed after Eleizegi's death: "We know it was performed because there is a photo."
The Estella works are much more closely linked to the subject of gender identity; Erauso Kateriñe itself is a good example of this. And through it Eleizegi presented "a character that has gone beyond the feminine gender." Alvarez explains that by choosing Catalina de Erauso as a leading role, Eleizegi confronted the stigma: "She chose a different model of historical Basque woman. Not just another way of being a woman, but a different way of having relationships. Even though it is true that in Eleizegi's works there is no mention of sexuality, we know that Catalina de Erauso went around with other women. When Eleizegi chose this character, she did a reinterpretation: she is saying that this way of being –so despised in society–, this way of having relationships can be structured after all."
So with the character of Erauso, the transgender concept comes to the fore. This is in fact one of the main points highlighted by Alvarez in her thesis, since Eleizegi made an early contribution to the transgender issue when presenting it as a way of achieving happiness and freedom: "I wanted to show that this happened long ago. That apart from heterosexual and standard models, other very different ones have existed in Basque culture for many years."
About the author
Amaia Alvarez-Uria (Bilbao, 1978) is a graduate in Basque Philology and did her PhD on Literature. Her thesis supervisor was Mari Jose Olaziregi-Alustiza, lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Basque Studies of the Arts Faculty of the UPV/EHU. Today, Alvarez lectures in the Department of Didactics of Language and Literature at the University Teacher Training College in Vitoria (UPV/EHU).