Ethnic nominations, archaism and foreignization: representations of indigenous people from northern Chile in textbooks (1845-1987)

Abstract

In this paper, the representations of the indigenous peoples of northern Chile in History and Geography school textbooks are analyzed from a long-term perspective. The research covers from the first records of this pedagogical tool published in the year 1845 until the last military dictatorship in Chile, in the decade of 1980s. Through a methodology of documentary and hermeneutic analysis, three discursive strategies of representation are recognized. The first responds to ethnic nominations, which move from a homogenizing approach, to then describe and classify the indigenous cultural differences. In this stage, the consolidation of the scientific disciplines of archeology and ethnology in Chile, plays a leading role. The second strategy refers to the representation of the indigenous people located in a past temporality. In the case of the indigenous people of northern Chile, the archaeological discourse accomplishes a relevant function in the consolidation of this “archaizing” vision. Finally, a “foreignizing” representation strategy is identified, which places the indigenous population of the north of the country as an image of otherness for the Chilean national imaginary. It is argued that these representations have contributed to supporting state actions of assimilation on the indigenous population of northern Chile.