La prosa de Gabriela Mistral: Cultura, epoca y estilo literario

The purpose of this dissertation is to study Gabriela Mistral's prose and its relationship to modernism and modernity in Hispanic America. This ignored part of her work shows a writer very aware of the social, political, and cultural problems of the mid-twentieth century, a time in which Hispanic America had recently incorporated the literature and culture of modernity. It also presents a very different view of Gabriela Mistral than the traditional critics who have pigeonholed her as a writer focussed on juvenile themes, embittered and frustrated with familial and emotional troubles.Showing Mistral as a writer actively engaged in protest and social criticism, this dissertation studies the relation of her work with other modernist writers, especially Jose Marti who she recognized as "the most influential American master in my work." The first chapter examines modernism, as an epochal movement of renovation and crisis whose characteristics are still present in the vanguard movements of the late twentieth century. Chapter 2 refers to the ideological, cultural, and social aspects of the period in which Gabriela Mistral wrote; it also describes the historical and cultural traits that resound in her work. Chapter 3 explores Mistral's early prose including Desolacion. Chapter 4 analyzes the ideological concurrences between Mistral and Marti and compares their styles, with special reference to their concern with the American continent, the education of minorities, the fate of indigenous peoples, the struggle against poverty, and economic and cultural dependence. Chapter 5 studies Mistral's stylistic resources and techniques of impressionism and expressionism. A section is dedicated to the study of neologisms, archaisms, popular expressions, and lexical creations never before examined in her prose.Gabriela Mistral's work is a testimony of a tumultuous period and of the searching for an authentic expression of the American continent. It is from the perspective and ideology of modernism and modernity that we can understand the usually overlooked themes in her work and thought such as her defense of Sandino, land reform, and a modern conception of education.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio