Carrera Andrade, Jorge (1903–1978)

Jorge Carrera Andrade (b. 18 September 1903; d. 11 November 1978). Possibly Ecuador's greatest poet of the twentieth century, Carrera Andrade was also a diplomat and anthropologist who traveled extensively both inside and outside his native land. In constant evolution throughout Carrera Andrade's life, his literary works comprise more than two dozen books of poetry spanning fifty years, numerous prose works, translations, and several literary studies of Ecuadorian, French, and Japanese literature. In his poetry, the luscious, diverse land of Ecuador and its strong telluric magnetism symbolize, in the vein of the European romantics and French symbolists, the origins of cosmic man and woman. Carrera Andrade's verse is a vehicle that constantly takes him back to the center of his poetic world: Ecuador.

Early on, his poetry reads like a carefully crafted, melodious song dedicated to his native land and the American landscape, and it continues to impart a musical quality to the land through innovative visual imagery and metaphor. Through his poetry, Carrera Andrade rediscovers his identity in the beauty and order of nature, which gives rise to certain constants in his poetry: optimism, despite growing world problems throughout his long career; social concern for the less fortunate in the world; and a search for ways to deal with solitude. Hombre planetario (1957–1963) is his best book of poetry, for in it he reconfirms his long-standing conviction concerning the need to understand our relationship with the land and with each other. Carrera Andrade also pioneered the adaptation of haiku to the Spanish language.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Enrique Ojeda Castillo, Jorge Carrera Andrade: Introducción al estudio de su vida y de su obra (1972).

Peter R. Beardsell, Winds of Exile: The Poetry of Jorge Carrera Andrade (1977).

Additional Bibliography

Gleason, Robert M. "The Reaffirmation of Analogy: An Introduction to Jorge Carrera Andrade's Metaphoric System." Revista Iberoamericana 68: 200 (July-September 2002): 567-582.

Lara, A. Darío. Jorge Carrera Andrade: Memorias de un testigo. Quito: Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, 1998.

                                             Dick Gerdes