Early literature in colonial Ecuador, as in the rest of Spanish America, was influenced by the Spanish Golden Age. One of the earliest examples is Jacinto Collahuazo,Borja, Piedad (1972). "Boceto de Poesía Ecuatoriana". Journal de la Academia de Literatura Hispanoamericana. an Amerindian chief of a northern village in today's Ibarra, born in the late 1600s. Despite the early repression and discrimination of the native people by the Spanish, Collahuazo learned to read and write in Castilian, but his work was written in Quechua. The use of Quipu was banned by the Spanish,Robertson, W.S., History of the Latin-American Nations, 1952 and in order to preserve their work, many Inca poets had to resort to the use of the Latin alphabet to write in their native Quechua language. The history behind the Inca drama "Ollantay", the oldest literary piece in existence for any Amerindian language in America,Karnis, Surviving Pre-Columbian Drama, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1952 shares some similarities with the work of Collahuazo. Collahuazo was imprisoned and all of his work burned. The existence of his literary work came to light many centuries later, when a crew of masons was restoring the walls of a colonial church in Quito and found a hidden manuscript. The salvaged fragment is a Spanish translation from Quechua of the "Elegy to the Dead of Atahualpa", a poem written by Collahuazo, which describes the sadness and impotence of the Inca people of having lost their king Atahualpa.
Early literature in colonial Ecuador as in the rest of Spanish America was influenced by the Spanish Golden Age One of the earliest examples is Jacinto CollahuazoBorja Piedad (1972) "Boceto de Poesía Ecuatoriana" Journal de la Academia de Literatura Hispanoamericana an Amerindian chief of a northern village in today's Ibarra born in the late 1600s Despite the early repression and discrimination of the native people by the Spanish Collahuazo learned to read and write in Castilian but his work was written in Quechua The use of Quipu was banned by the SpanishRobertson WS History of the Latin-American Nations 1952 and in order to preserve their work many Inca poets had to resort to the use of the Latin alphabet to write in their native Quechua language The history behind the Inca drama "Ollantay" the oldest literary piece in existence for any Amerindian language in AmericaKarnis Surviving Pre-Columbian Drama The Johns Hopkins University Press 1952 shares some similarities with the work of Collahuazo Collahuazo was imprisoned and all of his work burned The existence of his literary work came to light many centuries later when a crew of masons was restoring the walls of a colonial church in Quito and found a hidden manuscript The salvaged fragment is a Spanish translation from Quechua of the "Elegy to the Dead of Atahualpa" a poem written by Collahuazo which describes the sadness and impotence of the Inca people of having lost their king Atahualpa