Relatos de conversión indígena en el Reino de Chile

. Abstract. This article studies the meaning and rhetorical function of conversion stories in four Colonial texts: the epic poem La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla and three chronicles about the Arauco War and the evangelization in the Kingdom of Chile. On the one hand, there are narratives of “mortal conversion” in which the converted native dies immediately afterwards. One the other hand, the chronicle Restauración de la Imperial y conversión de almas infieles by Juan de Barrenechea y Albis contains an account of “productive conversion”, in which the native repro-898