'Electrolongo'

Running Head: ELECTROLONGO 1 ‘Electrolongo’ Rethinking national identity through electronic music in postcolonial Ecuador Susan C. Martínez Herrera MA Thesis in Literary Studies Dr. Suze van der Poll Dr. Krisztina Lajosi-Moore Graduate School of Humanities University of Amsterdam July, 2018 ELECTROLONGO 2 Abstract How do we approach postcolonial national identity processes within our globalized societies? The following research builds from the premise that music can function as a diachronic narrative framework inside which national identity processes can be read and reinterpreted, within and beyond, colonial and postcolonial narratives. Here, I have focused on a new independent music scene in Ecuador characterized by a fusion between native/local music (EC-local) and electronic music, and which has been termed Electrolongo, following one artist’s denomination of this music scene. I propose that the current independent EC-local—electronic music scene launched by Ecuadorian youths embodies a space of liminality where national identity is explored, subverted, and re-negotiated albeit without an explicit goal to challenge dominant discourses, yet accomplishing precisely this objective. To this end, I formulated an ethnographic and ethnomusicological research grounded on a series of interviews with the artists involved with Electrolongo. The production of this ethnography relied on the principle of knowledge co-construction (Kvale, 1996). Hence, noting both parties are Ecuadorian, this study is intentionally oriented in a self-reflexive manner: the study reflects the experience of the researcher, to a lesser degree, and that of the artists, to a larger degree, while acknowledging their mutual influence in the process of meaning-making. Ultimately, I submit that the study of current national identity processes in countries with a colonial past different from the cases held in the postcolonial canon can prove valuable in the dedvising of newl theories that integrate the different postcolonial realities of other localities and the postcolonial developments of other regions. ELECTROLONGO 3 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my friends for offering their enriching perspectives on this and many other topics. My gratitude to my family for being the rock I need to go on through life — this is for you. Many thanks to my supervisor Suze van der Poll for allowing me the freedom to explore beyond any set boundaries and letting me do so at my own pace — I appreciate the trust. Finally, thanks to the cities — Quito and Amsterdam — for their hard lessons. ELECTROLONGO 4 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgments 3 Table of Contents 4 Glossary 5 PART I 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 Chapter 2: Contextualizing the Ethnic Identity Debate in Ecuador 12 Identity and Mestizaje in Ecuador 14 Identity and Music in Ecuador 18 Chapter 3: National Identity and Postcolonialism for the Ecuadorian Case 22 On the Matter of the Nation 22 On the Matter of Identity 26 On Liminality 28 PART II 31 Chapter 4: Electrolongo Methodology and Methods 31 The Field: Constraints and Affordances 31 The Field: Engaging with Online Spaces 33 Reflexivity and the Ethnographic Interview 35 Sampling and Selection 39 Contact and Access 39 Participants 42 Interviews 46 Data and Analysis 50 Chapter 5: Electrolongo Ethnographic Analysis 51 Electrolongo: Music Map 51 La Música - The Music 52 Electrolongo: Three Branches 62 La Tierra - The Land 62 La Resistencia - The Resistance 70 La Diversidad - The Diversity 80 The Audience 84 Electrolongo in Postcolonial Theory 89 Conclusion 93 Bibliography 96 ELECTROLONGO 5 Glossary Amerindian: I make a distinction between the natives of the Ecuadorian Amazon and the indigenous populations of the Ecuadorian Andes, I refer to the latter as Amerindian. Creole: In this investigation a creole, in line with the analysis made of Imagined Communities (1983), should be understood as a white-creole. That is, a person with direct Spanish ancestry but born in the Americas during the Spanish colony. EP: Literally, ‘extended play’. It refers to a musical recording that has more tracks than a single but less than a full-length album (long play). Gringo: An informal term, usually derisive and chiefly used in Latin American, to refer to a person (usually white and blond) from the United States. Local: For the purpose of this thesis, local, is defined as the territory within the limits of the nation-state. Hence, local is in relation to Ecuador. Local is also used in reference to mestizo music, and is often used in tandem with ‘native’ which refers to other types of music or sounds such as those of produced by populations of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Mestizo: First, by mestizo here I do not mean white-mestizo; I use the term to refer to the mestizo identity as a whole and particularly to the Ecuadorian mestizo. Second, I use the word in the masculine spanish form throughout the investigation even when the pronom it is next to is female. ELECTROLONGO 6 Present: Particularly in the section of ‘The Resistance,’ but also throughout the study, I often use the word present next to the word old or native to refer to the present marginalized musical traditions included in electrolongo. Regional: This term should be understood as the ‘region’ in relation to Ecuador; thus, it refers to the Latin American region. ELECTROLONGO 7 PART I Chapter 1: Introduction Approximately two hundred years after the establishment of the first official nation-states (Anderson, 1983) an explosive debate over nationality and national identity in the face of globalization, migration, and multiculturalism has become a landmark of the current times. The most ardent and mediatized polemics around the nation and national identity have arisen in financially dominant countries and ex-colonial powers of the West. Noteworthy examples include the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit), the election of rhetorically nationalistic heads of state such as Donald Trump (United States), and a general rise in nationalistic and border-stringent policies around the West. And while these vehement expressions reflect the rise of a new political trend concerning the nation in powerful countries, the questions surrounding the nation and national identity are persistently explored and creatively researched in postcolonial nations. Thus, it is relevant to ask, how is identity in relation to the nation currently explored and reformulated in postcolonial countries such as Ecuador? This investigation demonstrates that ongoing, grassroots artistic expressions reveal real-time processes of nation- and national identity- building than might be presumed of brandnew creative processes. By incorporating the postcolonial analysis Homi K. Bhabha to a historical overview of national identity in Ecuador informed by the argumentative framework of Benedict Anderson concerning the nation and nation-state, I argue that music can function as a diachronic narrative framework inside which nation-building processes can be read and re-interpreted, within and beyond, colonial and postcolonial narratives. Because music can be ELECTROLONGO 8 perceived as a communication medium that does not depend on literacy to convey meaning it has the potential to act as a narrative of local processes of national identity as they unfold across time. Electrolongo is a novel, independent music scene in Ecuador characterized by a fusion between native/local (EC-local) and electronic music. This fusion gathers songs associated with older generations as well as rhythms and sounds that conjure up a sense of Ecuador to an Ecuadorian listener and blends them with modern digital music processes. Thus, in connecting tradition with new global influences electrolongo reinterprets old and modern models of Ecuadorian music and their associated (national) identities. By conducting an ethnography of electrolongo current notions about the Ecuadorian national identity are investigated as they unfold; hence, providing research with a rare opportunity to observe an ongoing creative process of nation-building. Because this particular music uses words minimally and operates primarily by combining sonic elements it has the potential to be a space where an unthreatening sensorial experience translates into an intellectual inquiry as the result of the confrontation of an Ecuadorian audience with the unexpected fusion between the Ecuadorian local (old and/or marginalized) and the global in electrolongo. Therefore, I propose that the current independent EC-local–electronic music scene launched by Ecuadorian youths embodies a space of liminality where national identity is explored, subverted, and re-negotiated albeit without an explicit goal to challenge dominant discourses, yet accomplishing precisely this objective. My interest with the new electronic scene in Ecuador began when I stumbled upon the Soundcloud station Canal Dub and through my friendship with Josué Moreno, owner of the local pub Sereno Moreno located in La Tola neighborhood in Quito. With Josué I discussed my experience about returning to Quito after years of living abroad. At first, I assumed my interest in this novel type of music was due to its unexpected fusion of electronic and native/local ELECTROLONGO 9 Ecuadorian music, and because its producers were also young Ecuadorians. It became clear as I surveyed this musical landscape that I was unintentionally exploring through the music my own experience of feeling

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