Grapheme alphabet proposals for mapuche language: from phonemes to political and identity representations

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss some of the different and best known grapheme alphabet proposals for writing the Mapuche language, and discuss their rationale and the tensions that underlie them. With this, we hope to contribute to open the current debate to a new awareness of possible alternatives about the representations that are in dispute and about what these concretions generate when they are used in intercultural education. The appearance of Mapuche Huilliche grapheme alphabets, the adoption of some of them and the resistance to others show that even in language areas seemingly more ―objective and technical‖, politics takes place. This shows that linguistics is undeniably tied to power relations involving individuals and speech communities.