Garcés, Fernando

    Universidad Politécnica Salesiana  Ecuador

     

    Non-indigenous Kichwa speaker. Linguist and educator. Doctor in Latin American Cultural Studies. He has conducted research on various topics related to the Kichwa language and knowledge, as well as on Interculturality. Currently, he is a Full Professor at the Salesian Polytechnic University and Director of the UNESCO Chair on Indigenous Peoples in the City.

     

    Lecture

    Virtual Communities for the Defense and Revitalization of Kichwa

     

    The presentation will show some data about the situation of Quichua in Ecuador, as well as the causes for its weakening and the loss in the number of speakers. We will study the use of this language in social media in general, as well as virtual social media, specifically WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube. Examples will be shown of how the speakers and the linguistic activists try to position and revitalize the language in those spaces and the future possibilities of hoping that these practices push the revitalization of Quichua.