A traditional stereotype for modern Spanish politics: The basque pro-independence coalition Herri Batasuna and its depiction in cinema

Abstract

This chapter shows an approach to national stereotypes in the Basque Coun- try, through four different films. It analyses how the pro-independence coalition Herri Batasuna (People’s Unity) was portrayed in films in which their plots took place in the 1980s. We propose that its characterisation is ruralised, traditional and irrational, and is built in connection with the new Spanish modern-democratic identity, as its opposite pole.