El canto del pastor no espanta las ovejas: memoria y nostalgia en los versos improvisados de los emigrantes vascos

The aim of this presentation is to reflect on the nostalgia suffered by Basque shepherds who emigrated to America, by analysing their production of improvised verses. These improvised verses addressed their homesickness, desires, opinions and concerns in a declarative and emotional way. While other narrative genres tend to represent these feelings in a more rationalized way, these verses tend to be evocative and emotional, with a testimonial function that is perceived more directly. In that respect, they become complex and multifaceted texts that influence the representation of identity and the migratory project.Nowadays, the consensus is that literature and cinema are cultural products with an enormous social relevance, and that they elaborate and represent social and historical discourses. Similarly, the verses of emigrants to America constitute social and historical discourses that let us reflect on the construction of the social reality of Basque emigration.