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The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter / ROBERT YARR

Swansea University Author: ROBERT YARR

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Abstract

This dissertation examines the narratives of Chile’s estallido social [social outburst] (2019–2020) as constructed and circulated through headlines shared by influential traditional media nodes on Twitter (now X). It situates these narratives within Chile’s broader socio-political context of neolibe...

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Published: Swansea 2026
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Master of Research
Degree name: MA by Research
Supervisor: López-Terra, F., and Lublin, G.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71759
first_indexed 2026-04-17T13:15:44Z
last_indexed 2026-04-18T04:57:26Z
id cronfa71759
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2026-04-17T14:15:42.3028922 v2 71759 2026-04-17 The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter 8f70ee64ef1710ea02875d9372ee9883 ROBERT YARR ROBERT YARR true false 2026-04-17 This dissertation examines the narratives of Chile’s estallido social [social outburst] (2019–2020) as constructed and circulated through headlines shared by influential traditional media nodes on Twitter (now X). It situates these narratives within Chile’s broader socio-political context of neoliberalism, democratic history, and new social movements and contributes a novel methodology, proposing ‘tweet frames’ as a mode for analysis. Drawing on multimodal critical discourse analysis (CDA) approaches, the thesis analyses how mainstream news outlets framed the unrest when their headlines were disseminated on Twitter, considering tweets as they appear in-platform, as opposed to conducting deep analysis of the journalistic content itself. This accounts for the fact that these items are highly tailored and have specific affordances which create unique engagement strategies and inform opinions in a similar fashion to traditional news media. The findings reveal a consistent discursive pattern:protestors were delegitimised through portrayals of violence and disruption, whilst state authorities were framed as rational, calm, and legitimate actors. Protestors’ own positions were systematically absent, and government perspectives were amplified, producing a discourse of ‘civilisation versus disorder’ that narrowed space for dissent. The research highlights how tweets, headlines and carefully selected images on Twitter functioned as powerful gatekeepers of meaning, shaping public perceptions during a moment of national crisis. By combining theories of new social movements, media framing, and Polanyi’s notion of the ‘double movement,’ this thesis demonstrates how digital headline circulation reinforced elite-driven discourses, even amid widespread contestation of Chile’s neoliberal order. In doing so, it contributes to understanding the intersection between social media, media discourse, and democratic struggle in contemporary Latin America. E-Thesis Swansea Chile, estallido social, social outburst, social uprising, critical discourse analysis, protest, social movement, latin america, latin american studies. 31 3 2026 2026-03-31 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University López-Terra, F., and Lublin, G. Master of Research MA by Research Maney Publishing 2026-04-17T14:15:42.3028922 2026-04-17T14:08:40.1297230 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Modern Languages, Translation, and Interpreting ROBERT YARR 1 71759__36523__11aa792c44fd4f52a109720f9cffa148.pdf 2026_Yarr_R.final.71759.pdf 2026-04-17T14:14:59.3516657 Output 4707008 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: the author, Robert John Yarr, 2026 true eng
title The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
spellingShingle The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
ROBERT YARR
title_short The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
title_full The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
title_fullStr The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
title_full_unstemmed The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
title_sort The Discourse of Crisis - The Narratives of Chile’s ‘Estallido Social’ Shared by Traditional Media Outlets on Twitter
author_id_str_mv 8f70ee64ef1710ea02875d9372ee9883
author_id_fullname_str_mv 8f70ee64ef1710ea02875d9372ee9883_***_ROBERT YARR
author ROBERT YARR
author2 ROBERT YARR
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Modern Languages, Translation, and Interpreting{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Modern Languages, Translation, and Interpreting
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description This dissertation examines the narratives of Chile’s estallido social [social outburst] (2019–2020) as constructed and circulated through headlines shared by influential traditional media nodes on Twitter (now X). It situates these narratives within Chile’s broader socio-political context of neoliberalism, democratic history, and new social movements and contributes a novel methodology, proposing ‘tweet frames’ as a mode for analysis. Drawing on multimodal critical discourse analysis (CDA) approaches, the thesis analyses how mainstream news outlets framed the unrest when their headlines were disseminated on Twitter, considering tweets as they appear in-platform, as opposed to conducting deep analysis of the journalistic content itself. This accounts for the fact that these items are highly tailored and have specific affordances which create unique engagement strategies and inform opinions in a similar fashion to traditional news media. The findings reveal a consistent discursive pattern:protestors were delegitimised through portrayals of violence and disruption, whilst state authorities were framed as rational, calm, and legitimate actors. Protestors’ own positions were systematically absent, and government perspectives were amplified, producing a discourse of ‘civilisation versus disorder’ that narrowed space for dissent. The research highlights how tweets, headlines and carefully selected images on Twitter functioned as powerful gatekeepers of meaning, shaping public perceptions during a moment of national crisis. By combining theories of new social movements, media framing, and Polanyi’s notion of the ‘double movement,’ this thesis demonstrates how digital headline circulation reinforced elite-driven discourses, even amid widespread contestation of Chile’s neoliberal order. In doing so, it contributes to understanding the intersection between social media, media discourse, and democratic struggle in contemporary Latin America.
published_date 2026-03-31T06:10:57Z
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score 11.102584

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