Silence and Invisibility as Weapons of Hegemonic Nationalism in Fernando Aramburu's Patria

Abstract

Fernando Aramburu�s Patria (2016) has undoubtedly constituted one of the most explosive publishing successes of Spain�s literary market of the recent years. The author depicts Basque nationalism as a flawed product deriving from irrational violent impulses that supposedly lie at the core of the Basque identity, while privileging a hegemonic Castilian nationalism. Aramburu�s perspective, however, is tainted by his geographic and affective distancing from Euskadi, which arises not only from the fact that he has been living in Germany since 1985 but also from his identity as an author who writes only in Spanish. His novel misses the mark, as it consists of a collection of easily digestible stereotypes that do not facilitate a profound understanding of the Basque reality.