Visuality and Narratives in the Iconographic Representations of the 2018 Feminist Student Movement in Concepción- Chile

Abstract

In 2018, the feminist movement paralyzed Chilean society by questioning patriarchy across all levels. This paper addresses the expressions of the movement through the visual and social representations that emerged from the demonstrators of the 2018 feminist student movement in Concepción-Chile. We focus on the case of three universities: Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Universidad del Bío Bío, and Universidad de Concepción. The main goal of the article is to make visible and describe visual and social representations generated and promoted by the feminist student movement, establishing relationships between the production of social significance present in the three cases of study. The methodology is mixed and divided in four stages: 1) Photographic record of more than 400 images of expressions present in the universities; 2) Classification of written and visual messages in content categories; 3) Descriptive inferential quantitative of analysis; 4) An analysis of qualitative content from a hermeneutical and semiotic perspective. Among the results, we highlight three predominant categories: Gender Violence; Sexist and sexist education; and Recognition of feminism. We conclude by saying that the movement seeks to reclaim inequalities and long-standing gender violence through narratives that dispute social significance and legitimacy to the hegemonic discourses of patriarchy.