“INDIO COME-IGUANA” DISCRIMINACIÓN, HOSTIGAMIENTO E INSULTOS ETNOFÓBICOS DIRIGIDOS A LOS MALECUS

Abstract

This article analyzes the discourse of Malecu people of different ages and from all the Malecu communities inorder to determine their perception of the discrimination they suffer due to their ethnic origin. In general, thediscrimination and bullying daily experienced by the malecus are based on the ideology of superiority of Westernculture and inferiority of Native American cultures and are frequently manifested in form of verbal aggression aimedat deteriorating their ethnicity, especially through the use of appellatives interpreted by the Malecus as having aninsulting ilocutive force. The semantic analysis of such appellatives shows that they are built on the basis of twocognitive operations: categorization and metonymy.