Tones and affects in the education of Mapuche girls. Reflections from The South American Missionary Magazine

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the affective tones of the magazine The South American Missionary Magazine (TSAMM) (1885-1963), the main source and archive of the Anglican Mission in Latin America. By tone we understand the way in which a narrative or an aesthetic artifact makes sense in its capacity to affect and that guides us, disposes us to a relationship with an audience or with the community. We will focus on the first years of the Mission, especially the years of opening of the schools for boys and girls, where a greater number of letters from the missionaries are concentrated where we can observe a story that allows us to know characters, perceptions about the region and the Mapuche, the installation process, the difficulties and needs of the mission and the Mapuche, the achievements and progress of the mission. We work with the thesis that TSAMM produces affective tones such as complaint, civilization, need and desire. In them, affects such as love, joy, and compassion are associated with spiritual, industrial, and domestic work, giving rise to a main performative effect: to orient and affectively dispose readers to a commitment to the Mission in La Araucanía.