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Article published In:
Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 4:2 (2018) ► pp.153–177

‘Official language for intercultural ties’

Cultural concessions and strategic roles of Ecuadorian Kichwa in developing institutional identities

 | Pennsylvania State University
This study considers the parallel expression of language policy toward Kichwa in the linguistic landscape of Yachay, two administratively independent government-funded institutions in Ecuador. Although the institutions share a geographic location, name, and goal of becoming a sciences and technology hub for Latin America, they maintain distinct identities through their official signage, providing opportunity for consideration of how recent political and cultural ideologies toward Ecuador’s language policy have been realized in the linguistic landscape of parallel institutions. Kichwa, a constitutionally-recognized minority language of the region, is largely absent from the landscape, providing little more than a shared institutional nomenclature. Instead, the language and culture are used as a commodity for promoting pan-Ecuadorian interculturality and indigenous values, even if these values are not otherwise overtly supported. Kichwa thus represents the ‘traditional’ Ecuador, while at the same time serves as the backbone in the formation of a collective, future-oriented national identity.
Keywords: Kichwa, Quechua, Ecuador, identity, commodification, multilingualism, semiotics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2. Sumac kawsay and buen vivir
  • 3.Ecuadorian language education and the development of Yachay
  • 4.The linguistic landscape and minority languages
  • 5.The data
  • 6.Description of the landscape
    • 6.1Yachay EP
    • 6.2Yachay Tech
    • 6.3Private signs
  • 7.Analysis and discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 27 August 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.17016.lit
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