Towards a taxonomy for Basque oral poetry Bertsolaritza

The aim of this dissertation is to make a contribution to the analysis of Basque oral poetry by proposing a taxonomy for the study of contemporary performances. It uses the main approaches and views that have shaped the interdisciplinary field of oral traditions since the beginning of the 20th century. The theoretical framework in which the taxonomy is housed is based on a collection of academic works, some of them created for the analysis of oral poetry in general, some of them specialised in the study of Bertsolaritza. The dissertation defines the communication unit of the taxonomy, it describes its main facets or dimensions, and it also offers a detailed explanation of all the taxa of the classification. A last section remarks on the values and functions of a highly structured taxonomy within the present context of the study of Bertsolaritza, probably one of the oldest and most relevant oral traditions in Western Europe