Itxaro Borda is one of the most critical voices in Basque literature today, one who often uses her literary work to denounce the cultural, political, and economic deprivation in the northern Basque Country. Criticism has been a constant in Borda'a work. Her previous poetry and novels offer a precise commentary on the abandonment of ethnic minorities within the French state. Her critique usually appears in the background, intermingled with the events in the story she is narrating or the feelings she wants to express. %100 basque, however, brings the criticism to the forefront and moves the narration of events to a secondary plane.

        Nevertheless, Borda wants to make clear that hers is a work of fiction by immersing her text within the Western literary tradition. The book begins with a referente to Marcel Proust, and, in the same way as the French author, Borda uses food to recall the past. Cheese, in this case, becomes the means by which the author explores the meaning of being Basque. The title of the book, %100 basque, refers to an advertisement that claims that their product, sheep cheese, is pure Basque. Borda reflects on the wide acceptance and praise of Basque cheese the —"white gold," as she calls it— and ironically contrasts its popularity with the rejection that Basques suffer otherwise. In a satiric manner, cheese, sheep, and shepherds become the symbol of what it is to be a "real" Basque and, as such, they are the instruments of Borda's critique.

        The book is divided into a large number of entries separated by a these-to-four-line pseudo-philosophical maxim en how to find one's own path in lífe. Next, we find the stories, all of which follow the same model: after wandering the roads late at night the narrator arrives home with the sole idea of having some cheese to calm her mind and soul. Reflecting en things she sees while driving or triggered by elements in the world of cheese, the narrator starts her criticism. First, she reproaches the attitude of these Basques who pretend te love the Basque language, euskera, but teach French to their children. Next, she blames Basque cultural institutions that maintain their culture in a primitive state and deny it any contemporary or future significante. Finally, she attacks the political and economic powers in the region because they use Basque culture to satisfy their own personal interests. In short, Borda denounces the hypocrisy that surrounds Basque culture.

        Irony permeates the book. The introductory aphorisms contradict the stories they supposedly illustrate: her anecdotes show that in order to be authentic, Basques act like sheep. That is, in order to remain pure, Basques follow their cultural, political, and economic leaders when in fact these leaders have other interests in mínd. The aphorisms, however, predícate the opposite: they show the need to find one's own path. Exposing her readers to this contradiction lies at the heart of Itxaro Borda's %100 basque.

Maite Nuñez-Betelu

University of Missouri, St. Louis