| This dissertation presents an analysis of how contemporary history is ideologically constructed within the text. I worked with Chilean history textbooks (ranging from 6th to 12th grade), dealing with the conflictive historical events, which until now have torn the country apart. These events include: (1) the presidential election of Salvador Allende in 1970, a socialist candidate; (2) the military coup d'etat, led by Augusto Pinochet on September 11th, 1973; (3) Pinochet's dictatorship until 1990; and (4) the process of transition into present day democracy.; To be able to conduct this investigation, I used both a theoretical and a methodological approach. Specifically, I based my analysis on systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis. Since this systemic functional linguistics current is a socio-semiotic approach to language, this one is a useful and coherent methodological tool for CDA-type of study. From this perspective of language, grammar is understood functionally, that is, each structure has a semantic connotation in a particular communicative context. SFL offers a rigorous methodology to analyze texts, based on a lexico-grammatical and discursive semantic approach (Halliday, 1994; Hasan, 1999; Martin 1991, 2002 among others). CDA is a interdisciplinary approach in which researchers have the same purpose in common: the analysis of instances of social interaction, more specifically the analysis of problems of social inequality (Fairclough 1992; van Dijk 1997, 1998; Wodak 1999, among others).; The main objective of this dissertation was to analize from a linguistic point of view, (a) how this pedagogical discourse of history is linguistically codified within the texts; (b) through what kind of linguistic resources, at the lexico-grammatical, discursive-semantic, register, and genre levels is the pedagogical discourse of history displayed in textbooks; (c) the contribution to our understanding of the Spanish language (the academic register) from a SFL perspective.; From a ideological and historical point of view, I analyzed how contemporary history from 1970 on, specifically the conflictive events in Chilean history, is represented in school textbooks. How are the main social actors and events portrayed within the discourse? What events and social actors are silenced throuhout the discourse?. Finally, how is social responsibility assigned, avoided or misplaced?.; Finally, from a pedagogical point of view, I investigated what kind of ideological representations textbooks offer to students that influence their political views of Chilean history. |
