Cover not available

Article published In: Political discourse analysis of female political leaders in the Global South
Edited by Mark Nartey
[Journal of Language and Politics 23:1] 2024
► pp. 21–44

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

The construction and legitimation of Elisa Loncón as a Mapuche female political leader on Instagram

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad de O’Higgins
ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Austral de Chile
ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Austral de Chile
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22144.per
Abstract
This study analyzed the multimodal discursive strategies Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche linguist and renowned academic, used on Instagram to position herself as a sociopolitical leader during her tenure as president of the Chilean Constitutional Convention. 811 Instagram posts from her account were downloaded from 15 January 2021 until 15 January 2022. From this, 81 of the most interacted posts were selected and used to examine her multimodal discursive strategies while drawing on the Discourse-Historical Approach (Reisigl, Martin and Ruth Wodak. 2001. Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitisim. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2016. “The Discourse-Historical Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Studies, edited by Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer, 23–61. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). The results revealed three main themes: (1) the construction of an alternative leadership, (2) visibilization of female leadership decision-making, and (3) a vindication of linguistic rights. Referential and intensification strategies were particularly salient, and they were used to legitimize her role and foreground her Mapuche ancestry. These findings highlight how female political leaders (and their intersecting identities) strategically deploy their communication practices to resist sexism and racism.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Female and indigenous political leadership and communication
  • 3.Data and methods
  • 4.Elisa Loncón as a Mapuche female leader
    • 4.1An alternative leadership
    • 4.2Visibilization of female leadership decision-making
    • 4.3Vindication of linguistic rights
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (60)
References
Alvarado, Claudio. “Elisa Loncón y los caminos que se abren para la democracia del siglo XX”. Palabra Pública, January 4, 2022. [URL]
Boddenberg, Sophia. 2018. “Mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes, interseccionalidad y feminismo decolonial en América Latina.” Revista Búsquedas Políticas 11: 1–9.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cárdenas-Neira, Camila and Carolina Pérez-Arredondo. 2021. “Prácticas discursivas insurgentes y ocupación de espacios urbanos: Análisis de los paisajes semióticos creados en dos ciudades de Chile durante la revuelta social (2019–2020).” Bulletin of Spanish Studies 98(7): 1165–1190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campus, Donatella. 2013. Women Political Leaders and the Media. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carli, Linda L. and Alice H. Eagly. 2011. “Gender and Leadership.” In The SAGE Handbook of Leadership, edited by Alan Bryman, David Collinson, Keith Grint, Brad Jackson, and Mary Uhl Bien, 269–285. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chin, Jean Lau. 2007. “Overview.” In Women and Leadership: Transforming Visions and Diverse Voices, edited by Jean Lau Chin, Bernice Lott, Joy K. Rice, and Janis Sanchez-Hucles, 1–17. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
CNN Chile. 2018. “La historia detrás del pañuelo verde, el nuevo símbolo feminista que llegó a Chile.” CNN Chile, July 23, 2018. [URL]
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43(6): 1241–1299. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cunningham, Carolyn M., Michael Hazel and Tracey J. Hayes. 2020. “Communication and Leadership 2020: Intersectional, Mindful, and Digital.” Communication Research Trends 39(1): 4–31.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Della Ratta, Donatella and Augusto Valeriani. 2014. “Remixing the Spring! Connective Leadership and Read-Write Practices in the 2011 Arab Uprisings.” In Communication Rights and Social Justice, edited by Claudia Padovani and Andrew Calabrese, 288–304. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dörney, Zoltán. 2007. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H. 2005. “Achieving Relational Authenticity in Leadership: Does Gender Matter?” The Leadership Quarterly 16(3): 459–474. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eagly, Alice H. and Steven J. Karau. 2002. “Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice toward Female Leaders.” Psychological Review 109(3): 573–598. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Escobar, Arturo. 2014. Sentipensar con la tierra. Nuevas lecturas sobre desarrollo, territorio y diferencia. Medellín: Ediciones Unaula.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Espinosa, Yuderkis. 2014. “Las feministas antirracistas teorizando la trama compleja de la opresión.” Género y Etnicidad: Reflexiones desde el Sur del Mundo. Class Lecture at Universidad de Chile, Santiago, March 20, 2014.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gigena, Andrea. 2021. “Las disputas por la (re)presentación de las mujeres-indígenas en Latinoamérica y el Caribe / Abya Yala.” Sociales Investiga 121: 36–47.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill Collins, Patricia. 2019. Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoyt, Crystal L., and George R. Goethals. 2017. “Introduction.” In Women and Leadership. History, Theories, and Case Studies, edited by George R. Goethals, and Crystal L. Hoyt, ix–xvi. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huggins, Jackie. 2004. “Indigenous Women and Leadership – A Personal Reflection.” Indigenous Law Bulletin 6(1): 1–3.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huguet Pané, Guiomar. 2021. “Por qué el morado es el color del feminismo.” National Geographic, March 8, 2021. [URL]
Kachicho, Nour Jane and Francesca El Asmar. 2020. Social Media and Women’s Leadership: A Feminist Analysis. Netherlands: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. 2021. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ledin, Per and David Machin. 2018. Doing Visual Analysis: From Theory to Practice. London: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loncón, Elisa. 2020. “Coexistence between Chileans and The Mapuche. Chile, Plurinational and Intercultural State.” ARQ 1061: 150–154.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2018. “Calinkutun Zugu”. In Maben ñi puji. Espíritus Femeninos. Relatos de Mujeres Originarias, edited by Elisa Loncón, 7–15. Santiago: Universidad de Santiago.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. “Racismo encubierto y la resistencia desde la diversidad epistémica Mapuche.” Anales 7(16): 249–265.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (@elisa.loncon). 2021a. “Comparto con ustedes la entrevista que me realizó la @dw_espanol sobre la actualidad del Proceso Constituyente.” Instagram photo, December 18, 2021a. [URL]
(@elisa.loncon). 2021b. “Poyewvn.” Instagram video, July 22, 2021b. [URL]
(@elisa.loncon). 2021c. “Arriba los pueblos!”. Instagram photo, July 4, 2021. [URL]
(@elisa.loncon). 2021d. “Como Constituyente Mapuche represento nuestro pueblo desde el Maule hasta Coquimbo.” Instagram photo, August 8, 2021. [URL]
(@elisa.loncon). 2021e. “🇸🇴 Kom taiñ jitun kewvn fenxe zuamfaligey kvme mogeleal kom pu xokiñ ce amulyenieal ñi kimvn ka cumgeci ñi rakizuamgeal mapu.” Instagram video, July 21, 2021. [URL]
(@elisa.loncon). 2021f. “Gvrv egu kofke ñi piam – piam del zorro 🦊 y el pan 🍞.” Instagram video, August 8, 2021. [URL]
Magliano, María José. 2015. “Interseccionalidad y migraciones: Potencialidades y desafíos.” Revista Estudios Feministas 23(3): 691–712. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mignolo, Walter. 2007. “El pensamiento decolonial: Desprendimiento y apertura. un manifiesto.” In El giro decolonial: Reflexiones para una diversidad epistémica más allá del capitalismo global, edited by Santiago Castro-Gomez, and Ramón Grosfoguel, 25–46. Bogotá: Siglo del Hombre Editores.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. “¿Cuáles son los temas de género y (des)colonialidad?” In Género y Descolonialidad, edited by Isabel Jiménez-Lucena, María Lugones, Walter Mignolo, and Madina Tlostanova, 9–13. Buenos Aires: Ediciones del Signo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Painemal Morales, Millaray and Susana Huenul Colicoy. 2020. “Las organizaciones de mujeres Mapuche en el Chile de la revuelta.” Anuario del Conflicto Social 111: 152–168.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Parker, Patricia S. 2005. Race, Gender, and Leadership. Re-Envisioning Organizational Leadership from the Perspectives of African American Women Executives. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez, Lizeth and Carola Pinchulef. 2015. “Enfoques críticos a la participación política de las mujeres indígenas en Chile y Ecuador.” Revista UTCiencia 2(3), 130–139.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Arredondo, Carolina and Luis Cárcamo-Ulloa. 2023. “Representaciones mediáticas del Proceso Constituyente Chileno en Facebook.” (Manuscript under review).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poell, Thomas and José van Dijck. 2018. “Social Media and New Protest Movements.” In The SAGE Handbook of Social Media, edited by Jean Burgess, Alice Marwick and Thomas Poell, 546–561. London: SAGE Publications. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramay, Allison. 2022. “Conversación con Elisa Loncón: Futuros posibles con el Mapuzugun, la interculturalidad y la descolonización.” Anales de Literatura Chilena 23(37): 261–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisigl, Martin. 2017. “The Discourse-Historical Approach.” In The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies, edited by John Flowerdew and John Richardson, 44–59. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisigl, Martin and Ruth Wodak. 2001. Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitisim. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. “The Discourse-Historical Approach.” In Methods of Critical Discourse Studies, edited by Ruth Wodak and Michael Meyer, 23–61. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rojas, Jaime. 2023. Pueblos Originarios y sus comunidades en Chile. Reconocimiento legal y proyectos de ley. Santiago: Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile. [URL]
Saldaña, Johnny. 2020. Qualitative Data Analysis Strategies. In The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by Patricia Leavy, 877–911. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Santander, Pedro. 2021. ““La Convención Constitucional está bajo ataque”, ¿Verdad o fake news?” Ciper, August 25, 2021. [URL]
Shabliy, Elena V. 2020. “Women’s Leadership and Political Opportunity Structures.” In Global Perspectives on Women’s Leadership and Gender (In)Equality, edited by Elena V. Shabliy, Dmitry Kurochkin, and Gloria Y. A. Ayee, 1–17. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stead, Valerie and Carole Elliott. 2010. Women’s Leadership. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Steward, Georgina. 2018. “What does ‘Indigenous’ Mean, for Me?”. Educational Philosophy and Theory 50(8): 740–743. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Clinic, ““¿Sabe leer y escribir?”: la respuesta del cm de canal 13 que se llevó todos los elogios”, The Clinic, July 4, 2021, [URL]
Tully, James. 2002. “The Unfreedom of the Moderns in Comparison to their Ideals of Constitutional Democracy.” Modern Law Review 651: 204–228. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, Theo. 2008. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. Multimodality and Identity. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Villalobos, Verónica. 2021. “Teresa Marinovic alegó que Machi Francisca Linconao realice intervenciones en Mapudungún.” ADN, July 20, 2021. [URL]
Vogel, Sara and Ofelia García. 2017. “Translanguaging.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. 19 Dec. 2017. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Walsh, Catherine. 2010. Interculturalidad crítica y educación intercultural. En J. Viaña, L. Tapia y C. Walsh (Eds.), Construyendo Interculturalidad Crítica, 75–96. La Paz: Instituto Internacional de Integración del Convenio Andrés Bello.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
We are Social. 2022. Digital 2022: Another Year of Bumper Growth. We Are Social. [URL]
White, Nereda. 2010. “Indigenous Australian Women’s Leadership: Stayin’ Strong against the Post-colonial Tide.” International Journal of Leadership in Education 13(1): 7–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zappavigna, Michele. 2015. “Searchable Talk: The Linguistic Functions of Hashtags.” Social Semiotics 25(3): 274–291. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Perez-Arredondo, Carolina, Daniela Avello & Luis Cárcamo-Ulloa
2025. A multimodal discursive approach to translanguaging and identity in Chilean social media. Discourse, Context & Media 68 ► pp. 100951 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue