On subaltern urban historiography: Locating Nona Fernández's Mapocho between decolonization and urban social movements.

This article examines the interplay between subaltern collective memory, urban historiography, and grassroots urban social movements, focusing on how dominant ruling classes use official urban histories to consolidate power by marginalizing alternative grassroots narratives. Through a critical analysis of Nona Fernández's 2002 novel *Mapocho*, which contrasts the institutionalized History of Santiago de Chile with the myths and collective memories of Indigenous Mapuche and other subaltern communities, the article highlights how competing urban narratives shape urban meaning and social identity. It further explores tensions between pluralistic urban social movements and Indigenous decolonization struggles, emphasizing that Indigenous claims to land and sovereignty may conflict with broader alliance-based urban movements. The study underscores that representations of Indigenous urban pasts inherently engage with political questions about the nature of urban social struggle and the possibility of decolonizing cities.