The "wild savage" and the "good savage": the polarized representations of the indigenous in the written press of Peru

Abstract

This paper uses an analytical and methodological approach, that is known as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) , in order to find, describe and explain the uses of the transitivity related to murdering in Uchu raccay made by the Peruvian press to represent and identify indigenous people as ‘a savage out of control’ and ‘a docile savage’. In that sense, this research tries to find ways of representation that the Peruvian society made about that lugubrious event. The CDA is a new approach that can show the power relations which are hidden by uses of language. Therefore, it is an powerful tool for a critic and scientific linguistics. Our hypothesis affirms that both representations are hold by the same hidden ideology: The indigenous person is not a citizen.