ABSTRACT
One of the most celebrated traditions in the Basque Country is bertsolaritza. This is a tradition that consists of singing in an improvised way, preferably in open spaces such as market-places and squares, but also in theatres, cider bars, and taverns. The understanding of bertsolaritza as a male-dominated public event has led people to believe that this tradition only involves men. As a result a very significant dimension of activity that relates bertsolaritza to women has been ignored. Although outdoor gatherings are thought to be this tradition’s ‘genuine’ and only location, which encourages an almost automatic association with men, the truth is somewhat more complex. No matter how masculine, and how ‘naturally’ it is believed to relate to the public world of performance, the whole process of learning and mastering this tradition is linked to domestic life, and, as will shortly become apparent, to women. Little if any effort has been made to explain the absence of women from public bertsolaritza. But this absence is not as conclusive as appears at first sight, even though in the public history of this oral tradition their traces have almost faded into oblivion. The public/private distinction that engages men and women in different ways in the making of bertsolaritza results in the part women play in the tradition becoming almost invisible, and forgotten in its collective memory.
