The Chilean Social Outbreak of 2019: A Study Based on Representations and Social Imaginaries in the Press

The general purpose of this study is to describe and interpret the way in which the notions of representations and social imaginaries operate in the traditional and alternative Chilean press around the context of the so-called "social out-break" of October 2019. This qualitative research uses discourse analysis to access representations and social imaginaries conveyed through language in news texts from the traditional (El Mercurio) and alternative (El Ciudadano) press in Chile. This work evinces a dispute in the news construction of the conflict, in which social representations and imaginaries are made visible that conform to the interests and editorial principles of said media. Likewise, the relevance of the articulation of representations and imaginaries to delve into deeper and holistic explanations of the construction of news and the mobilized socio-cultural elements is verified. The research invites us to extend the study of the semantic and narrative struggles that seek to preserve the dominant representations and imaginaries in the face of those who seek to institute new meanings that guide the future of Chilean society.