Reconstructions of the Mapuche-Chilean poetic memory and the history of an encounter: Zugutrawvn/Reunion in the Word (1994)

Abstract

In May and October 1994, an unprecedented meeting in the cultural history of the country was held in the cities of Temuco and Santiago: Zugutrawvn/Reunion en la Palabra, the first dialogue between Mapuche and Chilean writers. The suggestive and original initiative brought together numerous people interested in the problems of the native peoples, and counted on the participation of important figures of the national literature. The aim of this article is to analyze the collaborative relationships, their differences, and the forms of cultural exchange between Mapuche and Chilean writers in the context of the Zugutrawvn, emphasizing the construction of networks and the discursive production of the participants. It is proposed, in this sense, to reconstruct a little known dimension of the poetic memory of the country from the alliances and voices that gave shape to this valuable intercultural approach, which not only favored the dissemination of Mapuche poetry at the beginning of the Chilean post-dictatorship, but also made it possible to address the debates related to the problem of recognition and the limits of the transition to democracy.