Am I a genuine Mapuche? Tensions and contradictions in the construction of ethnic identity in Mapuche adolescents from Temuco and Santiago

Abstract

This article examines the particular ways in which Mapuche adolescents from Santiago and Temuco dynamically express and give value to their Mapuche identity. We analyze the means by which they value themselves and others and how they represent their accounts of experiences in their communities to adjust concepts of identity and express degrees of affiliation. We investigate using an appraisal framework which provides analytical tools to explore interpersonal meanings instantiated in discursive choices of attitude and graduation. Among the linguistics resources to express graduation, we postulate that the subsystem of focus constitutes a key evaluative resource that Mapuche youths use to manifest their contradictions and tensions regarding the construction of their identity in a country that historically has discriminate indigenous people. We attempt to demonstrate that Mapuche adolescents negotiate naturalized ideological positions about their identity and what is considered ‘normal’ in their urban communities of Santiago and Temuco.