La contrautopía nacionalista de Baroja, la República del Bidasoa

Abstract

In the history of utopias, of the ideal cities, as important as the positive ones are the inverted images of these who convey positive visions. The classic model of contra-utopic construction is the Rabelesian abbey of Théleme with its rule granted by Gargantua and diametrically opposed to those of the other orders. This contra-utopic image is formed in opposition to the Benedictine convent, i.e. one of the great utopias of history, and, therefore, as long as contra-utopia, one of difficult or even impossible fulfilment in this world. The Bidasoa Republic, as it is conceived by Baroja, appears thus to a Biscayne person and to his political project like the Thelemite abbey in front of the Benedictine convent: a contra- utopia based on the freedom and the tolerance, the same negation of the Biscayne theocracy of yesterday or the Batasuna of today. But Baroja’s model is not the negation of the Basque nation as long as it is based on love.