The essays from Jaime Quezada’s book included in this file can be read as part of the now-classic discussion about the American continent’s identity problem and how Latin American artists and intellectuals addressed it in their work. The issue is made clear in lexical terms in the names used to refer to the continent—America, South America, Pan-America—which reflect the different ideological prisms through which the area is reinterpreted. The selected texts by Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) provide a poetic, anthropological, and sociopolitical reading of the continent itself and, through her, of the role played by women intellectuals. Mistral is an attentive observer and reader of the continent’s customs and the people who have created its collective identity in the various kinds of art they have produced. Her perceptions encourage the notion of many “Gabrielas” inspired by her roles as teacher, poet, and intellectual involved in the myriad conflicts that simmer in different parts of the continent.
[For more on Gabriela Mistral’s work, see the following texts in the ICAA Digital Archive: “A manera de nota prologal. Gabriela Mistral: Contar y pensar la América nuestra” (doc. no. 773666), “Addenda. Gabriela Mistral: Ciudadana de las Américas” (doc. no. 773684), and “Gabriela Mistral. Nuestra América” (doc. no. 773663) by Jaime Quezada; see also the following texts written by Mistral: “América” (doc. no. 773672) and “Origen indoamericano y sus derivados étnicos y sociales” (doc. no. 773669)].