Abstract
Gabriela Mistral is one of the most outstanding Chilean intellectuals of all times, and this year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary since she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The discussion of her work has been largely concentrated on her poetry, but gradually other dimensions of her work are becoming known, mainly the educational, spiritual, and political. This work explores the former in the hope of shedding some light upon her educational views by arguing that Mistral’s pedagogical writings are in essence biophilic and, therefore, clash with the predominant Western paradigm in education that leans towards the necrophilic dynamic. This paper examines a selection of texts under the light of Fromm’s biophilic and necrophilic orientations, culminating in a final section that explores the “how” of Mistral’s pedagogy as an alternative to the massification, mechanization and standardization predominant in schools today. This work, by delving into Mistral’s juxtaposing line of argument, presents the epistemological and ontological openings that make her educational view relevant and necessary for today’s education.
Presenters
Andrea CampanaProfessor, Literature and Linguistics, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Past and Present in the Humanistic Education
KEYWORDS
GABRIELA MISTRAL, EDUCATION, ERICH FROMM, BIOPHILIA, NECROPHILIA
