Basque ethnography at a glance

Kabalkadak (parade) in Itsasu (Lapurdi). Author: Emilio Xabier Dueñas.

The year will end as it began: among sweets and alcohol, among gala and formal wear, among confetti and streamers… and, if possible, with red underwear. Of course, there will be no shortage of those costumes and masks common during Carnival, Saint Joanes, town festivals, Halloween, the Winter Solstice or all kinds of private celebrations (friends, farewell parties, schools, etc.).

It is as if the ban on carnival costumes during the dictatorship were making up for lost time and there were no tomorrow for such imagination.

However, all this forces me to ask myself: where are the boundaries between profane costumes, character simulation and the use of traditional uniforms and clothing in celebrations of religious origin or meaning?

Some of the characters from the Masquerade of Lamiako (Leioa). Author: Emilio Xabier Dueñas.

A “Carnivalesque” performance requires costumes: with clerical clothes (priest, bishop, monk, etc.), simulating famous figures from the world of politics, military uniforms (army, Guardia Civil, Ertzaintza), responding to temporary or permanent fashions (Superman, witch, Hulk, etc.), representing professions (workshop mechanic, nurse, doctor, etc.). Also there is the need to symbolize mythological creatures (Basajaun, Olentzero, etc.), traditional characters (bear or “the old woman”) and play functions or choreographic works in the Kabalkadak, Pesta Berri or the Masquerades, and staging the Carlists and Liberals or the lower classes (barrels or beggars) of the battles of the 19th century civil wars. The same happens with the representations made in the Catholic order: the characters of the Living Passion of Balmaseda; the apostles, Christ and Saint Michael in the Corpus Christi procession in Oñati; as well as the Romans in the processions of the Holy Week.

Whatever the categorization of the costume, the attitude of the costumed person and the resulting symbiosis, we find some contradictions worth mentioning today. Although a few years ago society accepted dressing up as a gypsy, painting oneself black or transvestite, today it has reached a level of rejection that is not comparable to other classes, such as the ecclesiastical, military or professional classes. Without a doubt, they are the result of latent, overt and socially reprehensible sensibilities.

On the other side of the, within what we consider acceptable, is dressing up as a farmer, with the free interpretation of what can be between the local or natural and the authentic or out of date. Curiously enough, it was originally a representation between the rural and the exotic, something we could consider ordinary. The aesthetics have changed, and it has taken on a specific weight with regard to marketing.

In fact, its use has changed a lot, and its origin is hardly noticeable. Let’s look at a couple of examples: the postulators of the late 19th century, with a few exceptions, did not go from farmsteads or from street to street in uniform to collect money or food; musicians did not dress up, but dressed in the most elegant way possible.

The current amalgam of costumes has the same versatility and adaptability of their use almost throughout the year, where, in addition to the “typical”, there are innovations. This is not an obstacle, as for many, it is an opportunity to project their creativity by offering something different, in a world where both private and public celebrations and festivals regulate the calendar of costume use.

Emilio Xabier Dueñas — Folklorist and ethnographer