Mapuche songs from the Lake Region as plausible means for intercultural education

GIL, JOSE MARIA; NAVARRO HARTMANN, HERMINIA

Otras cuestiones del lenguaje. Traducción y enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras

UNFRGS

Lugar: Porto Alegre; Año: 2022;

On the basis of the analysis of four different Mapuche songs from the Patagonian Lake Region (Argentina), we aim at establishing some conceptual connections with various cultural productions that may be accessible (or at least recognizable) to native Spanish speakers. Specifically, a series of conceptual links between the following pairs are exhibited: (1) a song about a clay vessel and a fragment of an iconic film from the nineties, (2) a song about a concrete locality and a Borges sonnet, (3) a Mapuche children’s song and another children’s song that had international repercussions, and (4) a farewell Mapuche song and a famous popular song in a highly melodramatic register. The discourse analysis of the four exam-ples of Mapuche songs allows us to show not only how primary orality is still valid both in Mapuche language and culture, but it also allows us to understand that such songs admit varied and rich interpretations within the framework of a certain worldview. In addition, the recognition of these connections also makes it possible to show that Mapuche songs are valuable resources to start thinking about inter-cultural education, especially in areas where Mapuche is a language that is in per-manent contact with Spanish. Within this framework, this work counts as a modest but significant contribution to intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding, without any kind of vain, unfair and, above all, unnecessary hierarchies.