Enemies or adversaries? Strategies of nominalization of the indigenous other contained in the peace treaties developed between the Argentine State and the Rankülche people (1865-1874).

Abstract

This paper is a proposal of critical discourse analysis, which investigates the discursive practices employed by the authorities of the Argentine State to describe the rankülche indigenous chiefs Baigorria, Mariano Rosas and Calfucurá as "enemies or adversaries" of the nation in the context of the diplomatic and interethnic relations that were the result of the occupation of the rankülche space of political-territorial control. Based on the linguistic and historical data provided by the historical documentation, the labels used by the interlocutors cited in order to define the conglomerates and position themselves in the peace treaties developed between 1865-1874 are explored.  The time frame in which the events are situated includes the recent triumph of Bartolomé Mitre in the battle of Pavón (1861), which put an end to the factions and internal struggles that led to the confederate wars and which will have as a subsequent effect an aggressive process of military expansion and internal consolidation of the State over the territories controlled by the indigenous peoples. Preliminarily, the analysis shows the use of a differentiated conceptualization of enemies and adversaries in the peace treaties. We note the use of labels and codes that define some as enemies of the republic, while others are represented as adversaries who are integrated into the new nation-state, albeit in a subordinate position.