Dragon Ball on the Basque public TV: influence on viewers’ language attitudes and practices

Abstract

Dragon Ball was highly popular among different generations in the Basque Country. The anime TV series was broadcast in Galician, Catalan and Basque practically at the same time in 1990. The translation and dubbing into Basque has been widely praised, in which one of the remarkable characteristics is the high use of the informal form of address hika in the first seasons. Hika has undergone a dramatic decrease in the last decades in most places of the Basque Country. This study seeks to examine whether Dragon Ball has to some extent influenced viewers’ opinion towards Basque in general and hika in particular and whether they believe having watched the TV series has increased their language use concerning Basque and specifically hika forms. A short questionnaire composed of numeric and narrative items was spread via social networks all over the Basque Country and according to the 5,966 responses collected in a three-week period, Dragon Ball was not only important in terms of symbolism but also concerning language ideology and use. The results show that media can play an important role in minority language contexts, even though new technologies will make it even harder.