Alphabets for writing and fighting. Sociopolitical considerations around the lack of standardization of writing in Mapudungun

Abstract

The lack of a standardized orthography for Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people, is manifested principally by the existence of various alphabets, none of which has so far achieved clear functional and social pre-eminence. This situation has generated a debate in which different positions, postulates, loyalties and counter-loyalties are opposed to one another by the various social actors involved in the problem. Some of the socio-political
implications of this debate are summarized and discussed, considering both the declarative dimension of the reasons expressed to support one or other of the proposed alphabets, and some examples of the effective use that is given to the alphabets in concrete spaces and moments of social interaction. Analyzing alphabets as tools of social and political action, highlighting the role played by linguistic ideologies, allows us to shed some light on the diversity of present Mapuche society