Representation, language and reality: about the possibilities of recent history

Abstract

Abstract

This article presents a bibliographic review which takes analysis from history, discourse studies, communication and social semiotic in order to establish some critical aspects related to how these take part in the representation of the social reality as a historical discourse. Specifically, the aim is to analyze if the reality presented involves some recent events which narration still result contradictory and struggling by legitimization, as it happens with the Latin-American dictatorships from the last decades. Through the previous frame the target is to answer questions such as: What is the role of language in the discourse construction pretended by ideologically lined up readers towards some historical representations? What are the factors which determine a narration as the only accepted reality in the comprehension of recent historical events? What are the effects in the collective memory the fact that some social groups perform a higher validation than others when establishing the interpretation of the collective experience? How are the hegemonic memories maintained or transformed? What happens when these interpretations result from traumatic historical events? Consequently five cores of theoretical discussion are introduced in order to provide some hints for the questions presented, these will lead to the role of language teaching in the recovery of recent history as well as the contribution of a critical pedagogy in the reconstruction of people's memory.