Dictatorship and the Cold War in Official Chilean History Textbooks

Abstract

Oteíza and Castro explain the importance of studying how the memory of the Cold War period is negotiated in official Chilean history textbooks, and particularly how these textbooks address dictatorships in Latin America and the role played by the USA in regard to them. The authors focus particularly on the historical actors, events and processes identified in the textbook discourse and how they are evaluated in the construction of a historical account of a past that is still open to debate. The study uses discourse analysis anchored in a social, ideological and socio-semiotic perspective.