Heroes versus Villains. A study of appreciation in stories about the discrimination perceived by Afrodescendants in Cartagena

Abstract

This research was aimed to explore options for appreciation semantic eight Afro-latinamericans employed in recounting everyday experiences of confrontation with situations perceived as racist, from a discourse analysis based on the of Appraisal Theory. This paper shows how the narrators mobilize evaluative resources belonging to the axis semantic-discus of Appreciation, to the strategic aim of building with words to the conflict event (racist, in his opinion) and the characters of the racialized event to relate. The analysis indicates that the narrators discursively construct themselves as heroes, as they build and present the other characters as villains (perpetrators of discrimination).