Disputes Between the Mapuche People’s Memories and Official Memories About Violence and State Terrorism in Chile (2008-2025)

19/09/2026

AI Summary

Hegemonic official memory frames Mapuche as an internal enemy, legitimising repression and sustaining narratives that criminalise indigenous political claims.
Media-State collusion legitimises militarisation, producing structural violence and perpetuating internal colonialism in Biobío and La Araucanía.
Official memory erases and delegitimises Mapuche agency; subaltern memories function as epistemic resistance and demand inclusion in transitional justice.

TL;DR (AI Generated)

This study examines the disputes between the Chilean State's official memory and Mapuche collective memories regarding violence and State terrorism during the post-dictatorship period (2008-2025) in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions.

Drawing on a post/decolonial approach and the notion of "long memories," it addresses State violence as a form of structural, political, and interpersonal/collective violence, whose expressions directly impact communities, families, and social bonds.

Triangulation revealed three key axes of dispute: (a) hegemonic representations framing the Mapuche people as an "internal enemy" and legitimizing repression; (b) media-State legitimation of militarization, experienced as structural violence and the continuity of internal colonialism; and (c) narratives surrounding the killings of Mapuche community members that criminalize victims and silence State responsibility.

Basic summary

J Interpers Violence. 2026 Sep 18:8862605261478124. doi: 10.1177/08862605261478124. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study examines the disputes between the Chilean State’s official memory and Mapuche collective memories regarding violence and State terrorism during the post-dictatorship period (2008-2025) in the Biobío and La Araucanía regions. Drawing on a post/decolonial approach and the notion of “long memories,” it addresses State violence as a form of structural, political, and interpersonal/collective violence, whose expressions directly impact communities, families, and social bonds. Methodologically, the research combines critical discourse analysis of 108 news articles from La Tercera and El Mercurio with 45 life histories and 6 focus groups conducted with 95 Mapuche participants, analyzed through thematic analysis. Triangulation revealed three key axes of dispute: (a) hegemonic representations framing the Mapuche people as an “internal enemy” and legitimizing repression; (b) media-State legitimation of militarization, experienced as structural violence and the continuity of internal colonialism; and (c) narratives surrounding the killings of Mapuche community members that criminalize victims and silence State responsibility. The study concludes that official memory operates as a power device that erases and delegitimizes Mapuche agency, while subaltern memories act as epistemic resistance. It proposes expanding transitional justice frameworks to include indigenous memories and critically examining the media’s role in reproducing narratives that legitimize State violence as a form of interpersonal and collective violence.

PMID:42760793 | DOI:10.1177/08862605261478124

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