Discursive Dissonance during Chile’s Ocupación de la Araucanía: The Works of Pedro Ruiz Aldea (1832–1870)

Abstract

This article explores the life and public writing of Chilean writer, journalist and revolutionary Pedro Ruiz Aldea (1832–1870). Living on the northern side of the Bío Bío River, the historic division between Mapuche–Chilean sovereignties since 1641, I argue that his knowledge of and experiences with an interethnic border culture influenced his decision to write against military violence (during the Ocupación de la Araucanía 1861–1883) and in favor of a peaceful integration of the Mapuche in the 1860s. His opposition was short-lived, but it provides a glimpse into little explored, alternative notions of the nation (Mallon) and the myriad negotiations between Mapuche and Chileans during the turbulent nineteenth century.