A reading of the student movement for education in Chile (2011-2013) from the production of linguistic graffiti

Authors

  • Rebecca López Morales Universidad Austral de Chile
  • Camila Cárdenas Neira Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Abstract

The present article aims at recognizing the purposes and systematic communication strategies as well as their prominent uses and socio-political achievements of linguistic graffiti, by means of an analysis of street protest discourses (linguistic graffiti) produced in the context of the Student Movement for Education in Chile (2011-2013). From the perspective of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), 25 graffiti produced in the cities of Santiago and Valdivia are thoroughly examined, focusing on the shaping of youth identities and ideologies. We conclude that the appropriation of public spaces is instrumental for male and female students to subvert hegemonic meanings and expand the field of social knowledge with other representations related to the educational conflict. The analyzed graffiti, therefore, constitute counterdiscourses redefining the relationship between youth action and education from the polarization, criticism and claim of students’ ideals, actions, and collective demands.

Keywords:

chilean student movement, graffiti, youth discourses

Author Biographies

Rebecca López Morales, Universidad Austral de Chile

Estudiante del Magíster en Comunicación de la Universidad Austral de Valdivia, Chile. E-Mail: pichimalen.lm@gmail.com

Camila Cárdenas Neira, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Doctora en Traducción y Ciencias del Lenguaje y miembro del Grupo de Estudios del Discurso (GED) de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, España. E-Mail: camila.cardenas.neira@gmail.com.