Gabriela Mistral and Her World

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The goals of this seminar to be held in Chile in the summer of 2022 are: to analyze Gabriela Mistral's poetic work in relation to her role as a woman poet, teacher, Latin American education reformer, Chilean woman of the first half of the twentieth century, diplomat and intellectual; to reflect on the socio-historical context in which the first Latin American woman Nobel Prize laureate and the only one to date to have achieved such a distinction arose; to investigate how Mistral's aesthetic evolution articulates and responds to political, social and economic experiences in Chile, in particular, and in Latin America, in general; to investigate how Mistral's aesthetic evolution articulates and responds to the political, social and economic experiences in Chile, in particular, and in Latin America, in general; to know and examine the identity proposals that emerge from Mistral's lyrical production, as well as the concepts of "authenticity" and "otherness", both sexual and national. Several questions will move our readings and discussions. For example, is it fruitful to speak of the autonomy of the lyric genre, what place does poetry occupy in the cultural practices of early twentieth century Latin America, how does the more "literary" genre reach the masses, what images does it create for women, children, nature, the homeland, or what does Mistral propose as an intellectual and poet for Latin American culture? Our approaches to this poetry will allow us to understand the history, culture and politics of Chile, the Southern Cone and Latin America. Students will gain a deep understanding of Mistral's development as a writer and historical subject, as well as the geopolitical history in which she writes. Students will refine their ability to think critically about literature; to this end they will receive a variety of critical and theoretical approaches. The course will combine lectures with discussions and excursions to the places where Mistral lived and worked. The language of the class is Spanish.