Language and Hybridity: The Reconstruction of Mapuche Culture in Post-Dictatorship Chile
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Authors
Ball, Anna
Issue Date
2022-12-11
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
University of the South , International and Global Studies Department , Senior Honor Theses 2022 , Hybridization , Mapuche , Chile , Culture , Language
Alternative Title
Abstract
The Mapuche make up almost 90% of the 700,000 indigenous in Chile. While the Spanish named these people Araucanians and the region Arauco, terms that carry connotations of imperial biases, the vast community calls themselves Mapuche (mapu ‘land’, che ‘people’). Throughout the history of the Mapuche in Chile, significant and ongoing threats to cultural autonomy have persisted for centuries. First with the arrival of the Spanish to colonize the region, and then by the Chilean state, Mapuche have found ways to adapt and reconstruct sociopolitical structures in a way that has preserved their culture within a global arena full of complex power dynamics, such as the dictatorship from 1973-1990, and the consolidation of neoliberal policies. The use of Mapuche poetry, oral traditions, and media outlets through the preservation of their native language, Mapudúngun, have offered ways to reclaim indigenous voices and affirm Mapuche cultural autonomy. Using hybridity in the adoption of Chilean and European language and written traditions, the Mapuche have adapted in a way that ensures cultural continuity through expression. Because much of the content of Mapuche poetry challenges the Chilean nation-state and seeks recognition of their own rights to ancestral lands, its identification as global intellectual history also proves the power of this cultural export in reconstructing Mapuche culture to secure a place in the national and global arenas.
Because of the vast and complex history of Mapuche in Chile, a focus on the post-dictatorship era allows for more in depth analysis of the use of Mapuche cultural expression in creating a space for Mapuche existence within Chilean society. The era following the dictatorship fostered a flourishing of cultural exports, as there was more room for the expression and widespread support of the different identities that were marginalized by the oppressive socio-political system. The complex history of marginalization of Mapuche in Chile has continuously been overcome by indigenous representation in linguistic policies, poetry, and media. While these reconstructions of Mapuche cultural expression have not yet produced a realization of political and cultural sovereignty, they have served to place Mapuche at the forefront of contemporary discussions in Chile.
Description
Citation
Publisher
University of the South