Ecuador and the ebb and flow of migration: A retrospective reading1

Abstract

The theme of migration is not new for Ecuadorians. In the visual arts and literature, artists have traditionally found the theme of migration to be useful when interpreting the personal and existential experiences of individuals living outside of Ecuador. Initially, the topic was not understood as a collective phenomenon capable of putting at risk an elusive national identity. Over time, however, the personal drama became a collective tragedy, which defines and conditions in no small measure the cultural, psychological and geographic boundaries of a pluri-national Ecuador struggling to re-signify the new cartographies that place and displace a nation in constant migratory movement, both internally and externally. This complex social, migratory and cartographic process of becoming is found in works of literature and the visual arts, which often oscillate between testimonial representations and representational testimonies. My analysis focuses on five works and highlights some of the identity transformations that Ecuador, a country located at the centre of the world, continues experiencing while seemingly adrift, yet fully engaged in re-inventing its multiple moving borders.