Doctor Encalada, full member of the Ecuadorian Academy of the Language
On June 16, the professor and researcher at the University of Azuay Oswaldo Encalada became the first academic who, without living in Quito, accepted the title as a member of the number of the Ecuadorian Academy of the Language.
An academic of number is that member chosen by the plenary session of an academy for his exceptional qualification in the matters related to said academy, and who holds - by right - all the faculties inherent to that condition.
Francisco Proaño, secretary of the Academy, began the ceremony by recalling the importance of this event: "A tradition to start the journey as a new academic, since whoever joins in that capacity is a figure of the national culture."
Later, Susana Cordero, Director of the Ecuadorian Academy of the Language, who recalled that in 1957 the institution's statutes were reformed, establishing that only those who reside in the capital of the country, headquarters of the entity.
Very young, Dr. Encalada began correspondence with three Spanish academics to solve the use of Spanish in Ecuador. Following this he traveled abroad where he met several illustrious characters from the Language Academy who fed his desire and passion for it.
To welcome the new number member, Dr. Cordero used phrases from the book "Al pie de la letra, fantastic geography of the Spanish alphabet", which contains brief reflections, by way of stories, of each of the Spanish academics who Dr. Encalada met on that trip.
Then it was the turn of the UDA research professor's speech, entitled "The last tail of culteranismo in Ecuador", which began with a quote from Miguel de Cervantes and then with a question:
"Is it possible that there is someone who wants to use the language in such a way that they do not understand it? The answer is yes. Yes, there were and still are speakers and scribes who prefer and preferred to move between the shadows and unnecessary difficulties ”.
This phrase, which refers to culteranismo, a literary style characterized by the use of poetic forms that are difficult to understand, based on abundant and complicated metaphors, was the theme that, along with humor, made the speech of the new member of number.
The academic of number, Luis Aguilar Monsalve was in charge of answering his speech beginning with the following words.
“We are inclined to think that for Oswaldo this literary movement left its mark on his own humanistic and universal training. When reading his manuscript, we meditate that the very basis of our training is to be found in the Greco-Latin tradition and in the Renaissance that flourished in Italy during the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries and then spread to Europe, particularly in Spain ”.
He later added that "with the questioning phrase that Encalada raises at the beginning of his speech, we conclude that his question is a declarative message of his personal literary work, seeking first and foremost communicative clarity."
Humor, fundamental in Encalada's works, has been the “vehicle whose purpose is to deform reality to make it festive and paradoxical. This author has achieved this with astonishing ease that at the same time underlines his investigative technique and offers us as a result an exploratory work that goes beyond the ordinary, ”said Aguilar.
To end this ceremony Aguilar mentioned: "Oswaldo Encalada Vásquez, once again offers us a work of solid analysis whose results contribute to laying the very foundations of our Ecuadorian literary culture."
UDA Correspondent
