The purpose of this article is to analyze the cultural and historical representation of the effects of international emigration of Ecuadorians in stories published over the last three decades. The theoretical framework derived from social and human sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology and, communication, as well as the bibliographic research in order to fulfill the purpose of this article. The content of this paper is divided into three topics: family disintegration, a decline of health in migrants and their families and the negative influence on the educational system, especially in children of migrant students. It is concluded that there is a vast literary recreation of the consequences of the emigration of Ecuadorians to “better” land, as it is shown along the development of this paper. Through the explanation of its main three headings: family disintegration, a decline of health in migrants and their families, and the negative influence on the educational system, especially in children of migrant students, it is hoped to provide readers with real outcomes of the international migration.
The migration of the inhabitants of the geographical space that currently occupies the Republic of Ecuador is a sociological phenomenon of a permanent nature since this started to happen. Immediately after the independence from the Spanish empire, the disintegration of Gran Colombia and the constitution of Ecuador as a sovereign, free and independent state, on May 13th, 1830, the first population census was carried out. Results show that more 80% of the population lives in the Sierra region, 15% in the Costa and less than 5% in the Amazon region. Over the years, socioeconomic changes and the government policy regarding land occupation in the three natural regions of Ecuador, generates a gradual increase in internal migration, first from the Sierra towards the Costa and then, to the Amazon region. Furthermore, it is important to mention that the internal migration originates from rural areas and small towns to the three main cities: Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca.
Not only internal migration has had consequences but also Ecuadorian international migration has a striking long history. Such is the case that, as a result of the crisis in the production and exportation of straw hats, this flow of people increases since 1947. Also, during the sixties and seventies, the US government opens the frontier and many Ecuadorians emigrate to the northern country in pursuit of a better future due to the severe economic and political crisis Ecuador was living in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century.
Among the preferred destination were countries such as the United States of America and Spain, the latest still gives shelter to a great number of Ecuadorians. During this time, it also occurred what it was called "emigration stampede", where a large amount of Ecuadorians emigrates to Chile, Venezuela, and Canada, and simultaneously to the Iberian nations.
Naturally occurring, the sociological phenomenon of migration is
happening at the same time. This phenomenon has been recreated in the most diverse
expressions of the artistic dimension of culture: music, painting, theater,
filmmaking and literature in its various genres: poetry, essays, novels, short stories,
narrations, and chronics. Regarding the representation of internal migration,
three groups of stories stand out in the Ecuadorian documents: the seven
narrative texts that recreate the interprovincial and interregional migration from
the city and province of Loja; six stories about the migration from rural areas
and small towns in the province of Guayas, the coastal region in general and
even other provinces of the Sierra to the city of Guayaquil; and six stories that
recreate the migration from the countryside and small villages in the mountains
to the cities of Quito and Cuenca [
A representation of international migration in the Ecuadorian story began in
the thirties of the previous century; however, it was not since the seventies and
especially in the early years of this century, in direct line with the greater
quatityqualitative significance of this social phenomenon in Ecuador, that written stories
come to light. This millennium, we can even speak of the narrative sub genre of
migratory story, with the help of three unabridged books, seventeen stories that
recreate emigration to the United States, eighteen to Spain and four to other
countries in Europe and the rest of the world [
Despite the significant number of stories about migration, there is still
proposed a very few analytical works that deserves our attention. Thus, for the
stories that recite the internal migration, it is worth highlighting the
contribution of Martha Rodriguez Albán who argues that in literary works of Ecuadorian
narrators in the fifties of the twentieth century little would have done the
euphoria of the discourse of progress. She goes on saying that it was not an illusion
seeing poor migrants from rural areas and small towns massively reach the main
cities of Ecuador [
Raul Serrano Sánchez, from the perspective of the migrant subject,
contextualizes, presents, describes and analyzes with great emphasis on the thematic and
metaphorical dimension of twenty stories about the international migration of
Ecuadorians towards the most developed nations in the northern hemisphere [
Based on the theoretical perspectives derived from social and human sciences, and the use of bibliographic methodology documentary, it is concluded that there is a fruitful recreation of the phenomenon under investigation which results are presented on three headings: family disintegration, a decline of health in migrants and their families, and the negative influence on the educational system, especially in children of migrant students, it is hoped to provide readers with real outcomes of the international migration. 2
By the nature of the research conducted, the methodology and characteristics of bibliographic and documentary research, it was pertinent to collect the required information in Ecuador along with the most important University libraries in the cities of Quito, Cuenca and Loja. In Madrid, the archives of the libraries at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid were researched, especially the Humanities Library “María Zambrano” and libraries of the faculties of Philology, Philosophy, Geography and History, Education and Political Science and Sociology. The type of literature reviewed corresponds to the parameters established within the literary analysis, development of the academic activities, the obligation to select variables and literary relationships in terms of family disintegration and the power of persuasion and forcefulness of the phenomenon of migration.
The analysis started from an initial reading of all Ecuadorians stories that represent and recreate, the literary and sociological phenomenon of internal and international migration. In a second step, we proceeded to the reading of works from various perspectives of social and human sciences, both the migratory process in its different phases as the features of the identity of the migrant subjects In a third step, a new analytical, comprehensive and critical view of the stories written in international migration works, which were selected as an object of study. These steps were considered in order to extract the textual citations, which were taken as the most representative and relevant basis for the development of this work. The analytical development is explained in the following pages.
There is a generalized approach that one of the most negative consequences of
international migration of Ecuador is family disintegration since the outward
has contributed to the marital and familiar instability. As it is evidenced by the
results of investigations, which make it clear that “since 1999, separations and
divorces have suffered a vertiginous (...) increase. This increase mostly comes from
women and men who have immigrated to Spain. Legal separation procedures are
performed ever since” [
However, we must also bear in mind the critics given to the international
migration of Ecuadorians as one of the main causes of the disintegration of
families. In this social and family distortion, mass media have played a decisive role,
especially the press, whose pages insist on the stigmatizing figure of migrants
and the "abandonment" of their family, violating basic principles of moral,
religious and loyalty, and involving national and patriotic sentiments. These facts
were pointed out in the newspaper El Universo of Guayaquil [
Also, questions have been raised regarding the sexist thought toward women
in the immigration problem. The negative impact on the family integration has
been given to the women who have left the country. This is masked under the
fact that the absence of women from the household has led to the destruction of
homes, the cease of family bonds, the impact on the lives of sons and daughters
who remain in Ecuador [
From this perspective, after analyzing the stories, it is easy to place international migration of Ecuadorians as the main cause of forced separation of spouses, especially those who have turned to the United States, where it is very difficult to obtain a visa. In other words, the family disintegration is produced as a result of the physical and indefinite separation of the members; as the omniscient narrator of one of the testimonial narratives of Galo Galarza Dávila, referring to an immigrant who was forced to leave his wife in the Andean town in Ecuador, where he was originally from:
He spent three months in that strange, disproportionate, unreal city and
could not find a friend, a loved one (...). She was not given a visa and had
to stay in Alausí, missing and longing for him with the same desperate force
he misses her and desires her right now, in this vast and alien city, full of too
beautiful and unattainable women [
Despite an improvement in the economic situation of Ecuadorian migrants and their families, it is important to state that this is not a fact that deserves to be analyzed. It is the welfare of household members the issue that is intended to be examined and not the accumulation of money. Therefore, it is concluded that in many cases, more important than the money generated by the multiples jobs done, it is the right care that should be lavished on children that should be considered. This care should be thought especially when they are in a stage of life in which they must attend school and train as professionals and humans, as it is shown in another testimonial narration written by Galo Galarza Dávila:
My wife and I, struggling to provide a better life for our children, began to
work as slaves, from sunrise to sunset; believing somehow that we were giving
our children all the support they needed. My son Ivan (QDG), died a month
ago, at the age of 23 years, a victim of AIDS as a result of their addiction to
different drugs. An addiction that he practiced for four years while living on the
streets [
In the emigration of Ecuadorians (especially people from Loja) to Spain,
the breakdown of couples and family disintegration is one of the most common
consequences, as depicted in the works of short stories that have been written
about this sociological phenomenon. Thus, in the story "I do not have to mourn"
by Carlos Carrión Figueroa, the main character states a case of international
migration. Carrión mentions the story of a husband that anxiously waits for his
elusive and distant wife in a corner of the Plaza Puerta del Sol. He remembers
the many times she has left him stood without acknowledging the previously
agreed appointments: “I’m stuck here with a beer under the strawberry tree,
waiting for Maribel. This is the sixth time. I was ignoring that this day could
have been my destiny. We said at 3 in the afternoon and it already is 4 pm” [
Times of endless and futile hopes induce the character to think and speculate
about his unhappy life as an immigrant in Spain: "I think of everything to not
think of myself since I came to Madrid. I am a simple drunk chasing his woman;
rather begging his woman to let me see her and she does not" [
On another occasion, he called her on the phone. He heard the laughter of
a man, and immediately assumes that he is the man with whom she betrays
him. In a very macho attitude of the culture of the country, which until recently
considered a wife as a mere object of exclusive property of the husband, decides
to kill her because he could not bear to see her in the arms of another man,
"she is not for me nor for anyone, what the hell! Because only killing her, I
will be at peace, and I’ll stop mourning like a sissy! Neither for me nor anyone!
" [
Regarding this same emigration route, in the narration of "Angel and Luisa"
by Gladys Rhodes Godoy, the story of a marriage of Ecuadorian immigrants is
told. Angel and Luisa were a couple that a few days after arriving to Spain find
a job in the service area of a family. "Angel would be the driver, gardener and
whatever else he had to do, and Luisa would be in charge of all the housework and
care of the family of two seniors and four children" [
Six months after the agreed deadline, she discovered by chance that her
husband had not bought the vehicle and that his absences at home were increasingly
frequent. Her questions were answered evasively and did not mention about his
return. Her heart sensed the reason for the detachment and reason showed her
that her efforts had been in vain. Without telling anyone, she returned to her
homeland to check disappointed that there were no savings and no marriage [
On several occasions, emigration is a potentially traumatic experience, which
can generate the appearance of psychosomatic disorders of various kinds as,
digestive symptoms, can not "digest", the immigration experience respiratory
symptoms (the new medium "chokes"), circulatory symptoms (the environment
and demands produce "oppression" in the arteries and heart). “They may be
prone to accidents such as attempts suicides. In other cases, instead of somatic
symptoms, hypochondriacal fears and fantasies are observed” [
Among Ecuadorian immigrants in the United States, because of the difficulties they have to endure, some cases have reached even suicidal ideas; since for them, life has lost all meaning. As it is recreated in one of the testimonial narrations of Galo Galarza Dávila, in which the protagonist narrator mentions suicide thoughts on more than one occasion:
... I swear that come at times a wild desire to hurt myself, to jump out of
this window and land onto the pavement, but this thought is only restrained by
my guaguas1 they still need me (...) but for me, life is worthless. What is life
being in a foreign country, without knowing anyone, not speaking the languages
spoken around here, no one’s family, without a friend, with this horrible weather
that forces us to spend locked in the house like a prison [
In the story "The boar at the bar," from Eliecer Cardenas Espinoza, the main character of this fictional story, an Ecuadorian immigrant suffers because 1 Affective way of referring a newborn. By extension, it is used effectively with children and teenagers or even youngest. of his girlfriend Camelia Balboa leaves him to go to live with her “friend" from Honduras. He loses all meaning and purpose in life; therefore, suicidal thoughts emerge too:
I just want to find that woman and tell her that life is so stupid and unfair,
just that, nothing more. And now? I do not know what I am going to do. Back
to my country or return to New York and throw myself into the Hudson River
from the Brooklyn Bridge where many times, Camelia and I walk together [
In the story "The night does not end," Raul Serrano Sanchez also addresses
the problems of rootlessness and loneliness that affect the protagonist. Suicide
linked to death thoughts are present, "here, using a knife or any other weapon
as a tranquilizer is a temptation that helps to deal with day and night. But, as
I anticipated, would I ever wake up rolled as a baby " [
Regarding the deterioration of health among Ecuadorian immigrants in Spain,
there are two stories that represent and recreate this issue. In "Roll of bells in
Madrid," by Raul Vallejo Corral, Jaime the protagonist, engaged in prostitution
in the capital of Spain. Unaware of using right protection, he becomes infected
with AIDS. Jaime is confident, hoping that only 20% of this would be spread,
but the doctor of the Spanish police tests him positive, and communicate it at
the airport of Madrid. This news seems not to bother him as it should have
been. Not even the acknowledge or a certain death approaching, because more
important is the "joy" of knowing that he is going back to his native Guayaquil:
"Conchita comes to you, ’Jaime, you got infected’, she is weeping and gives him
an envelope with the result of the medical examination (...). You keep it in your
pants pocket where Conchita gave it to you, and no longer hear the bells " [
In another analysis, it is also mentioned that those who have experienced the
pain of emigration, know that health is the most precious gift that must be care
as a real gem in the destination country. Immigrants need to consider that they
are no provided with social insurance jobs and remember the fact that they are
not allowed to lose their jobs, since it is the only possibility of economic support
for themselves and their families, whether they are in their own countries or in
a foreign land. For this reason, it is valid to mention the phrase of a woman
from Loja in Madrid, who mentions "If you want to keep a job / it is prohibited
illness". This problematic situation clearly demonstrates that the Ecuadorian
immigrants are regarded many times as a working machine and that "while this
machine is healthy, all would work well." The truth of this statement is evident
in the story, "The bus" by Gladys Rhodes Godoy. This story, tells the story of an
Ecuadorian immigrant who falls out of the bus while going to work and therefore
she arrives late at work. When she gets at her work, seriously injured, the boss
simply fires her without hearing any explanation: "the lady very upset by her
delay and looking her up and down did not accept explanations. Instead, she
asks her to leave and to call back when she is fully recovered. She emphasizes
that at home, the servants could not stay in those conditions " [
Ecuadorian international migration has also affected the educational
institutions, and therefore the students. In a higher percentage place of the migrant
population, it can be concluded that 16% of middle school students are children
of parents who left Ecuador, a number that increases up to 30% for schools who
have organized statistics [
The condition of children of migrants is most evident on occasions when educational institutions held an event in which parents, mothers or legal guardians must be present:
For these young people, "the other" is made up of their peers, young people
who do have their parents here. The development of us / them is mainly evident
in a given space-time, such as in the days of delivering the marks’ reports in
schools, or in the celebrations of Mother’s or Father’s Day. These dates have
become real spaces of violence among children of migrants [
According to the literary representation in one of the stories analyzed, one of the negative consequences of international migration coming from the southern provinces of Canar and Azuay become evident in educational institutions, where there are irreconcilable rival groups of student, as reported by the National State of Migratory Destination,
In the schoolyard, anywhere, they had been defining three groups of boys who
hardly spoke to each other. Miguel knew what means to be his friends when one
day he wanted to be invited to a game of volleyball (...). "You can not play with
us," they said; "You’re not Venezuela". The burly looked hostile and asked where
his father was. "In New York," Miguel said. "If I were nuevayorano 2 I would meet
with the nuevayoranos because if you go where canadeños3 they will leave you
to play with them." And Miguel knew it was so, that Venezuelans despised and
envied a bit to nuevayoranos. That Canada quarreled with Venezuelan and feared
the strength and number of New York (...). But Miguel did not feel comfortable
with the group not chosen by him but, fatally, by the father [
A close look at the content of the meetings held in educational institutions
has shown significant percentages of migrant groups of children that collapse and
stumble to find spaces that would represent them [
The most questionable impact of the International Migration of Ecuadorians is the fact that some mothers do not feel the need for their children to advance and complete the process of formal schooling, not even at the level of basic education. Most of them are satisfied with the money they receive from their husbands, who are migrants in the United States. They along with their offspring feel this because:
... finally, after all, they think, it is better to have the dollars their parents
sent them because studying was no avail. The tall lanky teacher in school was
able to convince them to come back to school going from house to house, a few
women let their children return to school. But a few did not [
This underestimation of the many benefits of formal education as a key of any sample of social development, of a healthy community, family or individual stated in the stories analyzed in this report, is perpetuating the subordinate position. That is to say, it is not only for the migrants and their immediate family environment, but for the whole Ecuador that the situation seems to continue creating unskilled labor force and, therefore, a vulnerable and underdeveloped country.
Among the most important consequences of the international migration, family disintegration stands out because of the physical separation of the household members. Especially if one of the parents is the one who leaves the country. This situation ends up in divorce and abandonment of small children, who are cared by grandparents, uncles, older siblings, other relatives, and even friends or neighbors. An evidence of this reality is the main characters of the stories of Carlos Figueroa Carrion, Galo Galarza Dávila and Gladys Godoy Rhodes.
Another consequence is the decline of the health of the immigrants. Those affected by Ulysses Syndrome or other psychosomatic disorders of various kinds, linked to the abandonment of place of origin and their loved ones. Health difficulties also hit the relatives of the immigrants, both in the country of departure and destination, if they have managed to reunify. Examples of this were mentioned in the stories of the main characters from the short fiction works of Eliecer Cardenas Espinoza, Galo Galarza Dávila, Gladys Rhodes Godoy, Raul Vallejo Corral, and Raúl Sánchez Serrano.
These problems and social limits are imposed by the international emigration of Ecuadorians as we have seen in the analyzed stories; even when the emigration to the United States has not reached the quantitative dimensions of the late twentieth century and early XXI.
The consequences of international migration are very evident in the educational system since the departure of Ecuadorians has affected educational institutions and, especially, children of immigrants. The latest feel unmotivated to attend and pursue formal education adopting inappropriate behavior and decreasing their school performance. There were also examples of these situations recreated in the iconic children story "The Gaps are the Eyes of the Earth," by Eliecer Cardenas Espinoza.
Future lines of research in this field are related to the educational system, the impact on children, parents and teachers and the socio-cultural conditions of international migration