University of Mississippi eGrove Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Theses Honors College) 2016 Portrayals of Pinochet: Historical Narratives in Chilean Schools Katie J. Wright University of Mississippi. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Wright, Katie J., "Portrayals of Pinochet: Historical Narratives in Chilean Schools" (2016). Honors Theses. 526. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/526 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College) at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Portrayals of Pinochet: Historical Narratives in Chilean Schools by Katie Wright A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Mississippi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Oxford May 2016 Approved by ___________________________________ Advisor: Dr. Marcos Mendoza ___________________________________ Reader: Dr. Kees Gispen ___________________________________ Reader: Dr. Luanne Buchanan ABSTRACT How is the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship represented historically in contemporary Chilean society? To answer this question, this thesis examines the education system, with a focus on high schools and universities in Valparaíso, Chile. I argue that there are two competing discourses about the Pinochet administration - a majority, anti-dictatorship perspective and a minority, pro-regime position - which selectively emphasize differing aspects of the regime. The anti position focuses on human rights violations while the pro perspective puts greater weight on economic achievements. This maps onto Chilean high school institutions, with a majority of upper and upper-middle class students attending private schools and a majority of lower class students attending public schools.