Abstract

The article highlights the evolution of the different landscape figures in Mapuche territory (southern Chile) and its inhabitants who have dominated collective imagination. It seeks to understand the origins of these representations and their performative nature. Some hegemonic representations, such as those of the virgin forest, contributed to the military annexation and colonization of the Mapuche territory, involving the imposition of new economic and environmental rationalities for its inhabitants and creating until today unresolved conflicts.