On Monday, May 18, the cultural project Los Esplendores posted its first online talk, which was
transmitted through the websites of the Gabriela Mistral Museum in Vicuña in Northern Chile and
the Gabriela Mistral Regional Library.
Soledad Falabella, Doctor in Hispanic Languages and Literatures of the University of California and
director of the Chilean NGO ESE:O, gave a talk on “Popular Culture, Heterogeneity and Dialogism
in the Religiosity of Gabriela Mistral”. It was followed by a discussion via Zoom led by Dr. Falabella.
The talk centered on Soledad Falabella’s analysis of the famous poem “Where is it that you are
taking me” by Gabriela Mistral, a lyrical work that talks in its verses about the religiosity that the
poet felt. Dr. Falabella is an expert on the poetry and life of the Nobel prize-winner and throughout her career has always shared unpublished aspects of Mistral that are infrequently
studied.
The discussion after the talk took place for the first time on the web so the organizers were unsure
how it would all work. But thanks to the patience and interest of all present and Dr. Falabella’s
professionalism, experience in online education and enthusiasm for new ideas, the result was a wonderful conversation. Communication flowed with exceptional ease and the learning was
doubtless profound, more than the organizers could have hoped for.
The talks Dr. Falabella’s contribution was the first of a cycle of seven talks, which have sought to generate “a
feedback process in the company of experts and the community itself, in which one can go beyond
the theoretical, transforming the teachings for all those who wish to nourish themselves with this
spiritual knowledge and wisdom, starting with Gabriela Mistral ”, explained the sociologist and
writer Breno Donoso Betanzo.
“For me, reading Gabriela Mistral means the possibility of seriously thinking about Chile as a
spiritual phenomenon, since she raises questions about our transcendental destiny as a nation,”
said the expert.
Resources available:
To see the talk please visit the Los Esplendores YouTube channel and click this link:
To see the discussion, you can click this link: